Channeling my inner Serena...

This evening I once again channeled my inner Serena Williams...aka...my professional tennis skills. HA. Alright, I'm not too shabby, but I'm not Wimbledon material.  When it's nice out Brent and I like to get out of our regular routine and play tennis, catch, whatever we fancy that day. Afterwards we perused the park and found a great little spot right on the Willamette river. 

  
Isn't this building awesome? It is an iron furnace, no longer in use, but it was fully functional back in the day when a huge mill and mining set up was right on this very land. Established BACK in the day, 1866. What's really cool about this area is that the Oswego and Oregon Historical Society has provided old images of the area and the people that worked this plant. Amazing what Oregonians used to use our rivers for. I feel extra lucky that these areas have been preserved and made family friendly so they are once again a destination spot, not an eyesore. 

Had to grab a picture of the founding plaque. Yes, I'm a huge sucker for history and historical monuments etc. Let me have my moment to nerd out. 

We ended our evening with extremely classy beverages we found at the local "Neighborhood Wal-Mart Market". What an oxymoron. Oh well, each package was $1.77, and the alcohol is included. Not a bad find if I do say so myself. Of course, 5% alcohol wasn't enough for this booze hound, Brent and I each added a shot of liquor to our drinks. Vodka for him, tequila for me. It's almost like Thursdays back when we were in college.  I just won't be waking up in my clothes from the night before with mascara smeared all over my face (feeling like death) tomorrow when I'm trying to get ready for work. Happy early weekend to everyone....can't wait for my half day Friday waaahooo!

3 and half days...

I hope everyone has made it through the day after the long weekend...I barely have. The knowledge that it's a 3 and a half day work week is keeping me focused. Here are a few blips from my Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy!

 Start to a great weekend...Brent had to grab the football so we could play a bit of catch in the backyard. 

While shopping for furniture for our apartment, we ended up bringing home a guitar. I know, essential to new apartment decor. He's already a pro after learning two chords!

Finally got to try flipflop wine, my mom read my mind! She had this ready for dinner last night.

Since Kelly and I brought up the topic of "best soundtrack ever made", I obviously had to purchase this gem on amazon.

Saturday night dinner...since it decided to torrential downpour Saturday night, we opted for ravioli over my much anticipated BBQ dinner :( Stinking rain. 

Fettuccine at my mamma's house. She whipped up this delicious dinner for us yesterday. Brent and I caught the Avengers in the afternoon and then feasted on pasta. Despite the fact that the sauce gave me a royal tummy ache, it was well worth it, hello...it had chicken AND shrimp in it. 

Friday Favorites

Friday has finally arrived. I felt like it took two full weeks to get here, but nonetheless, it's here. The only thing getting me through today is knowing that I can leave work at 11:00am (we're on summer hours). I won't know what to do with myself when I leave...free time, what's that? 

I wan to wish everyone a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. Please remember why this great Nation has this holiday and thank a Veteran, freedom is not free my friends. In the in the mean time, here are some of my favorite things...hope they get you through the rest of your day! xoxo

My favorite ecard for the week: courtesy of Kelly, who found this yesterday and sent it to me...it rang true for oh so many reasons. The ecard says it is all. I believe more than a few people deserve a medal this week, kudos to you for making it through!!! 

My favorite recipe/appetizer idea for the week: Guess who wants to try this tomorrow? Me! I think it will have the perfect balance of sweet and salty. Dipped grapes in caramel and then finished with crushed peanuts, hello new favorite snack. 

Favorite poster quote of the week: I'm in the middle of so many books at the moment...I have had this very though multiple times this week. Am I the only one that wishes she could snuggle up with a bottle glass of wine and read the day away?

Favorite person: Not just favorite of the week, favorite all the time...all day every day. I know this may sound a bit obsessive, but really it's not that weird when you're bff's with a Princess, excuse me, Duchess. Just LOOK at her.

Again, favorite person: Sorry, I could only choose one. I know the point of "friday favorites" is to post MULTIPLE favorite things, but she takes up so much favoriteness (is that word?) that she gets more than one picture. If you were this stunning you would deserve more than more picture on a Friday blog post too. P.S. This dress is one of my absolute favorite outfits she's worn...I texted her a few weeks back to borrow it, still no response, guess she's not into sharing with commoners?

I can't be held responsible for future posts of her. If it's wrong to post multiple pictures of someone you love that you don't know is wrong, I don't want to be right. This picture says it all, classic beauty, grace, elegance...I could go on and on...so gorgeous, well played Kate, well played. You give a girl a reason to wear a dress. 

Ok, final picture...for today. She's fun too, another reason we're bff's...she likes to do lots of 'activities'! Pretty sure our favorite color is the same too. NBD.

Favorite mug (from anthropology of course, yes I have the "K", Brent has the "B"): 1- I cannot survive a morning with out coffee, 2- I refuse to use boring mugs. Yes, I'm a mug snob. Not to be confused with mug shots. Would it count if there was Kahlua in my coffee, mug shot? haha. 

Favorite destination always: This photo looks extremely similar to the painting Brent and I bought in December of a Maui sunset so I daydream about the beach daily. Maui is magical, there's nothing like it. The air smells better, the breeze is softer, the days are sweeter. 

Favorite summer colors: The new essie colors...perfect for the summer season we're headed into. Yes I'm buying the hot pink, I can't be controlled on amazon. Online shopping is dangerous.  Proceed with caution...because I sure didn't this week, oops.

Another thought for the day...

Chocolate on a rainy day, yes please!

Absence.

I apologize for my absence! Life has taken me born the horns and my focus has been elsewhere, for that I am sorry.  Some big changes are ahead for Brent and I.  We've been in the planning stages, but now it's getting real.  Mid July we are moving to South Bend, Indiana. It's about 2100 miles from West Linn, Oregon....YIKES! Brent got into Notre Dame's MBA school (which I am extremely PROUD of him for) so we are off on our next adventure in life. 

In the mean time, we've been busy with a few other fun extra curricular activities. There was, Palm Desert/Coachella=AMAZING and one of the best things I've ever done in LIFE. And, Resort at the Mountain Tax retreat, a lot of fun and mainly relaxing with mounds of delicious food and most importantly the SPA.

First night of Coachella! We had an amazing sushi dinner in the JW and then jumped on our shuttle bus and danced our little hearts out at the shows. And we finally got to hang out with our friend Ben!

Poolside meal. I am still thinking about those taro chips. I made sure to get them as my side every single day.  YUM.  

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Coachella. But I cannot lie when I say that the pool time was one of my favorite things about the trip.  It was a fantastic 90-100 each day, the water was perfect temperature, and we were facing the golf course with adult beverage in hand...sigh.

We were able to snag a pic before the sun went completely down. We were getting ready for The Shins and Radiohead....both amazing shows!

 Right before The Shins came on stage, we were so excited, it's one of Brent's all time favorite bands.

On a walk up by Mt. Hood at the tax retreat this year. We opted out of golfing for a spa day. Very solid decision on our part. The weather was nice, but not very warm....and who doesn't love an hour long massage and some steam room time? Sign this girl up! In lieu of not golfing we walked the entire course, it was gorgeous!

Fast forwarding a bit...here is the owl I found last week!  He was injured in our back yard.  We quickly found out the little guy had a broken wing so we let him spend the night in our garage so the neighbor cat wouldn't eat him. I then took him to the Audubon society the next day so he could get doctored up and released back to the wild.  In the mean time I named him Archimedes.

Last weekend I was able to have a little sister/mom hang out time. It was great, these two are the BEST a girl could ask for.  We hit up Casa del Matador on 23rd downtown, and then shopped around a bit. I'm going to miss these two more than words can say when I move.

My beautiful sister Ingrid and I. We grabbed some gellato too at Allato Gellato, it was a great afternoon treat. I got Madagascar Vanilla, my mom got espresso, and Ingrid got Chocolate chip mint, all three were winners.

And my love at the pool, I had to throw this in. Now that most of our plans are in motion I will have more time to update my blog, keep posted, I will make sure to take lots of pics...especially when we drive across the country!