j's 30th

some cute pictures. vinny our cat kept looking longingly at the little puppy simon...quick snack. simon was so cute- weighed 2.5 pounds.

j's 30th

i somehow missed taking pictures of the first half of the party that was outside. we all came inside for cake when it got dark.

j's 30th

party for j. cake time.

j's 30th

dinner #3.

j's 30th

dinner #2.

j's 30th

dinner #1.

30th birthday

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY HUBBY!!!!!!!!!

last night j, my mom, & i went to hear ellen johnson sirleaf speak as part of the world affairs council lecture series, the same one that brought william jefferson clinton to town. e.j. sirleaf is the current president of liberia. it was quite interesting to hear her speak about the state of affairs in liberia & africa. my favorite part of these lectures are hearing the guest speaker respond to questions from the audience. the programs given out have slips of paper on which you may write questions for the speaker, and they're collected early on in the lecture by the ushers. clinton spoke at great length answering his questions, and only got through 4 or so, but president sirleaf answered at least 8. very interesting. i'm half kicking myself for waiting until now to be a member of this organization, because past speakers have been bono, the dalai lama, madeleine albright, shimon peres, jane goodall... must've been fascinating. however, you really have to pay for the whole lecture series. at $150, it was a little too much for me to handle on my symphony salary when i was managing a mortgage all alone (or saving up in the first place for the house). ah well. there are plenty of interesting people in the world... i hope to continue as a member in the future.

mommy's day

on sunday, we hosted our moms for brunch. lots of good food - lox, bagels, mimosas, chocolate cake, cheesy potato casserole, egg casserole, fruit salad - plenty of food for all. everything came together in time. no stress. hosting brunch is much easier than dinner. it was a beautiful day outside. i spent the rest of the day relaxing, knitting & watching bad movies. i saw akelah & the bee and RV. i don't recommend either movie.

baby shower - yay!

j & i were sharing a huge chocolate chip cookie - the kind that are chewy & full of brown sugar good-ness - when a chocolate chip fell in his scotch. he was not pleased, and i just had to take a picture. :)

baby shower - yay!

saturday night, we went to our friends' baby shower. it was co-ed, which i think is more appropriate these days, and more fun. lots of great food, drink, & fun celebrating the daughter-to-be & the parents j & c. c made j wear pink, because they're expecting a girl. i thought that was cute! the first one is a picture of all the guys attending.

close call???

most of saturday was spent preparing for our mothers day brunch we were going to host. i spent the morning shopping for groceries, & j headed off to do some rock climbing. i'm a little freaked out, because i was looking online at the local news site, and saw that a woman was randomly bashed in the head with a hammer in the baking aisle at fred meyer around 12pm, and i was there in the store then (i think...i can't quite remember). the guy was arrested when he got to a nearby checkout line, but the woman is listed in serious condition at a local hospital. what a miserable thing to happen to someone! anyway, i had a lesson to teach in the afternoon, but managed to fit in a run among the cooking & cleaning.

portland timbers

friday night after work, we were planning on splitting a bottle of wine & watching a movie, but we recieved an email from friends who were going to a soccer game, so we headed down to pge park to watch our first soccer game of the season. the timbers were playing the seattle sounders, & the game ended in a tie, 2-2. evidently they're having quite the season this year, winning 4 games already, 1 tie, and 1 loss. go timbers!!! the end of the game got really exciting, and i forgot to take pictures. oh well. next game.

mama's day

happy mama's day to all the mothers out there!!! my hubby & i are lucky to have two of the nicest mommies out there.

PLEASE!!!!!!!

everybody, PLEASE write or call the LA county prosecutors office:
The City/County of Los Angeles and
Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer
800 City Hall East
200 North Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 978-8100

DEMAND THAT PARIS HILTON BE SENT TO JAIL!!!!!!!!!!

celebrities must stop being treated like gods.

this girl must face reality.

cape falcon hiking fun

this is my favorite picture from the hike. after finishing, we headed to mo's, cannon beach location, for their famed clam chowder & a brew. we toured downtown cannon beach after our 2nd lunch, and strolled through some shops. after picking up some saltwater taffy, we headed back to portland & real life. what a great end to a fun weekend!

cape falcon hiking fun

check out the size of this split tree - it's enormous!

cape falcon hiking fun

funny picture... this unfortunate tree is developing quite the bosom.

cape falcon hiking fun

c & s, the bearers of our lunch. we drove to the coast, about an hour from portland, so they brought us lunch. they brought a bottle of the bodecker chardonnay, salami, a couple delicious kinds of cheese, & other yummy sides. what fun to drink & dine at a scenic overlook at the beautiful misty oregon coast. thanks so much, c & s!

cape falcon hiking fun

a picture of a scenic view on the hike, including the cute hubby!

cape falcon hiking fun

here's a picture of the flower of a trillium ovatum plant. picking the flowers of trillium can seriously injure the plant. the three leaves below the flower are the plant's only food source and a picked trillium may die or take many years to recover. for this reason in throughout the pacific northwest, it is illegal to pick the leaves or flowers.

cape falcon hiking fun

early into the hike, i found this four leaf clover. there were tons of clover patches all over, and i looked & looked at any chance i had, but never saw another one the rest of the day!

cape falcon hiking fun

we left this morning around 9am & picked up our friends c & s, & made our way to the coast of oregon. here's the sign at the beginning of the trailhead of cape falcon. i was really worried about being able to hike after my shoulders seized up, but i was able to wear a light backpack (after placing it gingerly on my back), & moving my legs was no problem. in fact, it felt good & sort of helped loosen things up.

knitting girl

yesterday my friend k taught me how to knit. she refused to show me how to cast on or cast off, so when i run out of yarn from the scarf that she began for me, i'll have to give her a call. i knitted all day yesterday. when i woke up this morning, my shoulders were feeling kind of sore. i kept sneezing continuously, and sneezed in such a way to strain my shoulders/neck so that the muscles seized up in a most painful way. i took two muscle relaxers & alleve with my breakfast, which only slightly took the edge off. i'm sitting now with a tennis ball between my back & a pillow, pressing against the tight offending muscle. OOOUUCCCCHHH!!! i guess i need to learn to knit without looking down or something...
hmm... the scarf looks pretty uneven. oh well. it's just the first, and i'm just getting used to the technique. i wasn't really paying attention to how tight i was pulling the yarn, and i guess it's something i need to learn to adjust.

go street sense!!!

one of the bonuses of no longer working on weekends for the symphony is that i can drink in the middle of the day. this is what i did on saturday. i decided i wanted to make a mint julep to drink while watching the kentucky derby, so i picked up mint from the grocery store & checked out recipes online. unfortunately, to make a truly minty mint julep, you have to steep mint sprigs in the simple syrup overnight. i was unaware of this, and had obviously planned poorly, so i just muddled some mint leaves to death with the simple syrup (which we happen to keep in the refrigerator for situations like these, although more commonly used for mojitos), and added some shaved ice & bourbon (maker's mark, for those of you who were curious). it came out tasting a little bourbon-sharp, which i'd guess a stronger mint flavor would soften, but it was still tasty.

i was rooting for street sense, who began in 19th place, and ended up winning the kentucky derby! woohoo! quite the exciting race, especially for my first time watching.

yay! new 'puter!!!

yay! we're finally the proud owners of a brand new macbook pro. our other computer, a dell inspiron 5100 has ceased working smoothly, so now we have a replacement. we're still going to keep the dell for awhile, but the mac will be our primary 'puter. it's sooo pretty!!!

friday night fun.

friday night, we met friends at the rogue ale house in the pearl district. we intended on staying there & enjoying some beer & grub. however, just as the LAST time we were there, we waited for about 40 minutes without being served, so we just picked up & left, and wished the people taking over our table good luck. yes, this time the place was packed, but the owners should've known better & been prepared for a friday night to be busy. ridiculous.
luckily, the pearl district holds more than enough drinking & dining options, so we headed over to the manzana grill. we immediately were seated & treated like what seemed like royalty after the rogue treatment. the rest of our party showed up, & we had a great time. we ended the night at henry's tavern, enjoying the upstairs pool table lounge. good times.
happy belated birthday, panda - you're lookin' fabulous in your shiny satin top!

"retirement party"

on thursday, my presence was requested at lunchtime down at the hall (where the symphony rehearses). i asked the hubby to take my place reading to the kids at the local elementary school for me so that i could be free to go. they threw a "retirement" party for p & me. there was coffee & goodies to eat, and they gave each of us a card that everyone had signed & a bouquet of flowers. it was great to see everyone, and touching that they had organized it for me.
the best (and most disturbing) quote from the signed card (which i framed): "who will use the f-word in orchestra meetings?" what a legacy i leave... miss potty mouth. hmm. i'm actually kinda proud of that...

yo baby, check this out!!!

you just gotta check out my friend slick in THIS. evidently they made it on their "lunch hour." riiiiight. :)

hello, nyc!

sunday morning, j & i went to brunch at the home of one of her student's parents. the mother lives in a beautiful brownstone in harlem, which she's in the process of rennovating. after a bellini or two, we rode down to central park for j's weekly soccer game. unfortunately, 10 minutes after i left to get to the airport, one of j's friends broke his leg & experienced serious agony. he broke both the tibia & fibula. it doesn't surprise me - the playing surface is really uneven. i'm surprised more people don't get injured! anyway, the person in the top picture, third from right, just got engaged saturday night - congratulations, blue eyes! the one standing with j, o, is from ireland. he & 13 of his friends dressed up as elvis & went on a pub crawl downtown on saturday. unfortunately, we never had time to track them down and take pictures. o seemed to be in fine shape, however, one day after such an event. i would've still been in bed at 4pm.

hello, nyc!

here are some pictures from seva's debut at the knitting factory. rock on, j!!!

hello, nyc!

saturday night, we met my friend j, a.k.a. the minister (he officiated at my wedding), and his girlfriend k somewhere downtown, far far away from where i was staying (125th), for dinner. i'll never ride in a cab again in nyc - talk about motion sickness!!! anyway, we had a nice dinner, & then made our way to j's gig with seva at the knitting factory. it was a late night, but we all had fun!

hello, nyc!

here's a picture of j & c on the... what are those things called? teeter totters? things on the playground are so darn safe these days. anyway, j is having just as much fun, if not more fun, than c. we walked to the riverside park, and the playground in it is one where adults are only allowed if they're accompanying children. those NOT there with children can be fined large amounts of money, in an effort to eliminate child predators.

hello, nyc!

j is modelling how functional c's glasses are during the ride down in the elevator. they can be worn with dark lenses down OR up! how cool is that??!!!

hello, nyc!

n & j's building has a really amazing rooftop, complete with lounges, bbq, & other great things. we all posed on the river side, and then the city side. if i had to live in the city, i'd want a building like theirs!

hello, nyc!

after the wine tasting, we met up with my cousins(?) who live in nyc, who have the ADORABLE daughter c. in this picture, c just woke up from a nap & is getting her hair fixed for a walk to the park. so cute!

hello, nyc!

later in the afternoon on saturday, j & i wandered into a wine bar, somewhere around broadway & 96th st (?), that sold wine only from new york state. we decided to taste a flight of 5 sparkling wines. j's nose was totally stopped up at the time, so she didn't enjoy it as much as i did. the last two were really great!