A Good July Day

It seems like forever ago now, but we spent a pretty great July Saturday with our pals Dante & Jenn.  They introduced us to the deliciousness that is breakfast at Gathering Together Farm in Philomath.  We knew the farm from our Farmer's Market, but had never visited.  It's a must for a leisurely locally grown breakfast. 

Stuffed to the brim, we headed out to the coast to let Sugar and her BFF Tynan run.

We headed back to Corvallis to catch Bobby McFerrin and the Yellowjackets at DaVinci Days.  Pretty big stuff for our little town!

A perfect summer day spent with great friends.  Yay!

I Heart the South

Having spent a grand total of 36 hours in Charleston, South Carolina, I can confidentially say that I heart the south.  Here's why:

• Being addressed as "y'all."
  
• Sweet tea.
  
• Better yet?  Sweet tea vodka! Best yet?  Mixing it with lemonade.  It's like an Arnold Palmer that knows somebody.
  
 

• Palmetto trees
  
• Palmetto bugs (I don't actually like the bugs.  I just think it's the nicest way I've ever heard anyone refer to a cockroach).
  
• Seer-sucker suits with bow ties.  I was so taken with this gentleman that I pretended to be futzing with my phone just to discreetly(?) snap his photo.  I sure hope all ya'll appreciate the kinds of sacrifices I make for the blog.
 

• Calling your purse a "pocketbook" even if it's the size of a suitcase.
  
• Front porches with rocking chairs.  Arnold and I could pass many happy hours that way.
  
• The Piggly Wiggly.  If I had stayed three or four more days I think I could have legitimately started calling it "the Pig."  As in, "alright ya'll I'm fixin to pop over to the Pig for some more lemonade.  Anybody seen my pocketbook?"
  
  
• Trees that look like they're straight out of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
  
  
• Manners: people use them and it's so pleasant.

There it is!  On the anniversary of our country's independence, I publish my declaration of love for the first state to secede from the union.  Woops.  

Aloha June!

  June has been busy!  But busy in a lovely tropical kind of way, so we're not complaining =)  As soon as the graduates hung up their mortar boards we headed to the Aloha State for OSU's Hawaii orientation program.  

 

 All the new Beavers from Hawaii converge on Punaho School (where President Obama got his start) to start their "Beaver Nation Migration."  (Yes, we really call it that but I swear it wasn't my idea).   These are some of my favorite colleagues from around campus and we made the most of this tough assignment.

 

Thanks to an unused companion fare, Jimbo got to come along and join the fun work.  He probably learned more about OSU's academic programs than he ever wanted to know.  But we bribed him with shave ice very effectively.

Poor Sugar did not get to go to Hawaii.  Instead she got to go on vacation at her grandparent's house.  I honestly think it's her favorite place to be...thousands of square feet - much of it carpeted, another dog to pester, doting Mimi & Papa, and all the rawhide she can eat.  Needless to say, she didn't miss us very much.

In keeping with our Aloha-themed June, we attended a Lu'au housewarming party for our friends Dante & Jenn. They kept it real, digging a pit in the backyard and roasting a whole pig overnight.  Kalua Pork FTW! 

We made it up to Sugar by taking her to the party, sporting her finest Lu'au appropriate collar. 

Sending you warm aloha!

Vegas Baby BFF!

Though we scattered across the country after graduation, the gals from grad school hold an annual BFF gathering to keep the fun times going.  This year we were also celebrating Nikki's baby shower, and what better place to do that than Vegas?

That's why they say "Vegas, Baby!" right?  =P

Part of the BFF tradition includes matching t-shirts, and we take turns designing them each year.  This was Nikki's turn and she went all out in honor of our outlandish location.  Here she is modeling the back of our shirts:

Yes, those are iron-on rhinestones and sequins!  For a little added pop she bedecked the collars with feather boas. 

We're nothing if not subtle.

So we trooped all around Vegas in our matching shirts, eating our fill of decadent food, enjoying a few adult (and responsible-mother-to-be) beverages, seeing the sites, laying by the pool, and even catching a Cirque du Soleil show!  We crammed a lot of fun into a long weekend, and it felt just as good as ever.

Viva Las Vegas and Viva La BFF!

Nicole, Jill, Nikki, Tracy

Shower for Erin & Baby Aiden

In April Jessie and I went to Phoenix for a super-special shower for Miss Erin and Baby Aiden.   Erin's mom and sister were the creative masterminds behind the shower, and these gals really outdid themselves! 





Martha's got nothin' on these gals!  A highlight was the chocolate mousse dessert in baby food jars.  So cute, and not too difficult to pull together.


Of course the best part was time with my best girls.  As usual, we didn't take nearly enough group pictures, but we got a couple good ones of a very cute preggo girl. 

 Big loves to Miss E and the baby-to be!

Wedding Reception Photo Booth - BRILLIANT!

At the risk of sounding incredibly Bridezilla-esque, I had one really awesome wedding planning idea. The best part is that it actually turned out as well (or better?!) than I'd imagined.

Behold the Photo Booth:
Okay, so it wasn't my own original idea...I saw it on the wedding blogs first...but I tweeked it my own way so I'm claiming it. The PB was a cheap way to liven up the reception and ensure fun candids of something other than cake-cutting.

In truth, it wasn't a booth. It was a wall. We found a big piece of red fabric at a discount warehouse in Minneapolis and taped it to the wall. We set up our own tripod and digital camera (since the last thing on my mind that day was snapping pictures) and took a few test shots to ensure the lighting was okay.

Behold the test shot:
I raided my costume bin and that of an equally well-provisioned friend, and then added about $14 of silly stuff from the party store.
I grabbed a couple cheap frames from Goodwill and spray-painted them black (ala Mrs. Lovely).
And tossed in a couple cheap dry-erase boards (lots of people were using chalkboards for this on the fancy wedding blogs).
But the best part comes to us from Her Royal Craftiness, Martha. Her Moustache-on-a-Stick idea (with a few modifications) won the day!

(This *may* have been their family holiday card)

We made the moustaches out of thin stiff felt (found at Michael's) and hot-glued them to small dowels (also found at Michaels).

Good times had by all! And these are going straight into the guestbook =)


Saved for last, my favorite PB shot:
If you've ever met my crazy step-dad this makes all kinds of sense. Sometimes I look at it just for a good laugh.

Fluff & Fudge

In September, my friend Megan married a charming man named Chris...
...and promptly moved to Rhode Island! Apparently it's a pretty big transition for a German farm-girl from Oregon to move in with a good Italian guy from Westerly. Megan's stories about life on the east coast have been entertaining and laden with references to lamé and leopard-print.

This week I received a surprise package from Little Italy's newest resident - full of items she considers distinctively Rhode Island.
Tasty Italian biscuits:

Coffee Syrup:
Apparently the coffee situation has been the toughest part of the transition. "Regular" coffee automatically comes with cream and sugar, and a strong black cup can't be found. But this coffee syrup is a hot ticket! Megan says it's used the way we Left Coasters use our chocolate syrup - mixed in milk. So, rather than dashing some milk into your coffee, folks add coffee syrup to their milk...go figure.

And finally, Fluff:
"Fluff & Butter" sandwiches are made by smearing this marshmallow goo and Peanut Butter on your bread. Health food it ain't.

While I loved the novelty of these little treats, Megan couldn't have known how perfectly timed her gift of Fluff would be. Marshmallow creme is an essential ingredient in my Dad's (practically famous) fudge recipe, which I was planning to make this weekend. As I whipped up a batch of fudge today I was awash in the nostalgia that process and those smells bring to me. As this is my first Christmas to make it without my Dad, that Fluff was probably the nicest gift I could have received.

The jury's still out on the Coffee Syrup.

Halloween!

We were invited to a Halloween party at Jessie & Tim's house on Saturday night. As we were brainstorming costume ideas, Jim had a stroke of genius. After picking up a baby Ella at the Goodwill and printing out a paper iPad, we were all set to masquerade around as Jessie & Tim!
Jim was extra-committed to a realistic portrayal of our friends - he shaved his head. We had a great time and a few people even mistook us for our doppelgangers from across the room!

Thank you, Jessie & Tim, for being good sports =)

Holy Whirlwind, Batman

I guess it's official: we fell off the face of the earth. Back-to-back "where are you?" phonecalls from my mother, and some cheeky little comments to the effect of "quit snogging and start blogging" confirm it.

In all honesty, we're not ignoring you! We've been just the teensiest bit busy. Here's the rundown:

Sunday, May 30th:
- Nicole sings two jazz services, skips the last postlude to jump in the car and race to the airport. Flies to Minnesota FOR THE LAST TIME.
- Nicole & Jim stage the classic greeting-your-long-lost-love-at-the-airport scene (which we gave perfected) FOR THE LAST TIME.
- One last adult beverage with our dear friends Bekah & Matthew
- Jimbo's apartment is consolidated into a 5x8 cube painstakingly arranged to fit perfectly in the 5x8 U-Haul trailer
- We arrive home at 11pm and give the apartment one last cleaning

Monday, May 31st:
- Up early to queue at U-Haul with the rest of the college students in the Twin Cities.
- Friends arrive to help with the loading
- Collective cursing of the three flights of stairs to Jim's apartment
- Sad goodbyes with our Minnesota friends
- by 10:45am we are loaded and road-ready. Nicole's total time in St. Paul was 12 hours and 15 minutes.

- Drive 11 hours. Comment extensively on the blandness that is North Dakota.
- Stop for the night in Miles City, Montana. Had a nightcap at the Gold Dust Saloon & Casino. Classy joint.

Tuesday, June 1st:
- Drive 8 hours across Montana. Let the record reflect that Nicole drove (and even successfully parked!) the truck and trailer. Pop would be way proud.
- Saw two funnel clouds
- Played "Bury the Cows" with moderate success.
- Dinner with Mom & Fred. Ahhh...real food.

Wednesday, June 2nd:
- Drove out to Florence to visit Sandy & Dean (Nicole's Aunt & Uncle) and picked up Miss Sugar for a playdate.
- Visited Sugar's home-away-from-home, Tails & Trails
- Taught Sugar to fetch...with moderate success.
- Visited Shirley & Vic (Nicole's "grandparents")
- Drove 3 hours to Ben & Treena's in Spokane
- Proceeded directly to Benedito's for pizza and beer. Did not pass go. Did not collect $200.
- Enjoyed the evening with the fam and the brown dogs.

Thursday, June 3rd:
- Up and on the road. Drove 7 hours to Portland.
- Stopped for hugs from Jim's parents
- Drive another hour to Salem
- Dinner with the Adams' and admiration of Ella's new "walking" skills
- Choir rehearsal (with cheers and applause at Jim's arrival!)
- Drive one last hour to Corvallis.
- Collapse

Friday, June 4th:
- Up early to unload the UHaul
- Created a giant mess in the spare room
- I abandoned Jim with his pile to go back to work

Saturday, June 5th:
- Up early to drive to Salem
- Quick coffee date with Jim's best friend Ryan and his boys
- Meeting with the wedding coordinator at Willamette
- Errands at Target
- Three and a half hour jazz rehearsal
- Welcome home party for Jim at the Best Little Roadhouse

Sunday, June 6th:
- Up early to drive to Salem
- One big fancy church service in honor of the Bishop's visit
- Picking out a dog bed at Costco
- Back to church for an Evensong service and our quartet's jazz concert
- Dinner with Jim's family at Rudy's

Monday, June 7th:
- Nicole goes to work and Jim commences the settling in
- Grocery store
- Errands
- Jim heads to Portland for a little family time

Tuesday, June 8th:
- Jim goes to the allergist to confirm what we already knew: he's allergic to everything. And especially grass seed. Did you know that Corvallis is smack in the middle of the Grass Seed Capitol of the World? Jim started the heavy-duty allergy injection therapy.
- Baskin Robbins for Dante's 31st Birthday
- Explaining the "31 Flavors" thing to Dante
- More unpacking...
- Wedding invitation assembly

Wednesday, June 9th:
- More work
- Meeting with the facilities coordinator and caterer for the wedding
- Pre-marital counseling session
- Dinner with Dante & Jenn

Thursday, June 10th:
- Lunch with Kate in honor of her last day as our Graduate Assistant
- Reception at WOU honoring our friend Karen's big fancy national award!
- End-of-the-year choir party (and hand-delivering the first batch of wedding invitations)

Friday, June 11th:
- College of Pharmacy graduation ceremony! My Favorite Student of All Time gets her Pharm.D.
- Jim and I interview graduates for a video I'm hoping to create for our orientation program
- Dr. Amanda comes over for dinner and is officially adopted into our family.
- We decide to put Amanda's car on Craigslist (Jim offered to help her sell it).
- Bocce Ball
- Responding to the nine quick inquiries on the car
- Rushing to the car wash to clean and vacuum the car in the near-dusk

Saturday, June 12th:
- Waffles with our new waffle iron!
- Jim and Amanda take the car for an alignment and run other errands
- We pile in the truck and drive to Albany to look at scooters
- Jim and I purchase our wedding/graduation/long-distance survival gifts to each other
-I picked out a sweet helmet, too. The front slides up and down depending on how I want to rock the Storm Trooper look.
- Load the scooters into the truck and drive to Salem
- Unload the scooters at Lucas' garage for a little temporary storage
- Drive to IKEA to meet the first potential car-buyer
- Buyer test-drives, haggles excessively (thank GOODNESS Jimbo was handling that one...) and eventually agrees to buy Amanda's car for the full asking price! Much celebrating!
- Long decision-laden tour of IKEA (with Dr. Amanda in tow) as we pick out a new mattress, and a huge shelving unit for the living room
- Pause for some swedish meatballs
- Load the truck and head to Lake Oswego
- Pick up dinner for Jim's family
- Say goodbye to Dr. Amanda. We won't see her again before she moves to South Carolina =(
- Quick visit with family friends

Sunday, June 13th:
- Coffee at Beth & Adam's
- Back to IKEA for the cabinet we decided we need after all
- Runs to Home Goods, Target, and Bed, Bath & Beyond for all those little things necessary for consolidating our households in some kind of organized manner.
- Setting up our new mattress and wrangling the allergy barrier around it
- Moving the old bed to storage
- Jim assembles the huge shelving unit, the new cabinet, and another storage cabinet for the bathroom.
- Remove and rehang the existing medicine cabinet to accommodate the additional storage
- 6 loads of laundry
- removing old shelves from the living room and rearranging their contents
- Consolidating and organizing two bathrooms worth of stuff into one
- Collapsing on the new mattress

Monday, June 14th:
- Jim begins his battle with the blackberries taking over the backyard
- Selling the futon and loading it up for the new owner
- Finishing and mailing ALL the wedding invitations! Crossing our fingers that they arrive safely.
- More unpacking, cleaning, and organizing
- Editing the wedding website and developing a scenario to manage RSVPs
- Falling into bed at 9pm

Tuesday, June 15th:
- Driving to Portland for Nicole to attend a faculty meeting while Jim starts work on a new patio at his sister's house
- Picking up our "new" couch (new to us anyway!)
- An hour at the fabric store on wedding-related errands
- Drive home in an Oregon downpour
- More Battle of the Blackberries and weed-pulling
- Packing for the trips that we each leave on tomorrow
- Blogging.

PHEW! If you aren't up to date now, you require too much information! Thanks for bearing with us (and our neglected blog). We're looking forward to the moment when the dust settles. =)

April Shower

Last Saturday was one for the books - my best gals threw me the bridal shower to end all showers! We started the day with lunch at the Wild Pear - NUM!
Then we got right down to business:
One of the advantages of being the last of your girlfriends to marry is that everyone has special keepsakes to share with you. Just such a keepsake is discernible in the photo. That pink beer coozy (coozying a cocktail rather than a brewski) reads "Because I'm the Bride, That's Why." It has a black coozy partner which reads, "What Would I know? I'm just the Groom." We will treasure them forever! Or at least until August. Then we might share the love with some other couple.

A few snaps from the festivities:



This is my bestie, Brenda Lee. It's too bad we don't have more fun together.

Can you make out the detail of this beautiful fabric banner? A certain crafty gal used our engagement photos to decorate it!

And these are my best gals. Could I have five prettier friends? No. It is not possible. Shall I really make you jealous? Not only are they picture perfect, they are each wicked smart, talented, funny, loving, and a darn good time!

And they share my love of pretty shoes. And umbrella drinks. And that's what really matters.

On to the May Flowers!