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!

Delicioso & April Challenge

If you want a delicious, healthy, and filling dinner here is an idea....drum roll please....the ultimate salad.  It is chalked full of grilled chicken, shaved almonds, spinach, arugula, avocado, grape tomatoes, mozzarella, a hard boiled egg and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette! It's a quick dinner but does not disappoint the taste buds.

Next up on the list...the challenge to myself for the month of April. I got this idea from La Petite Vie, check out Elana's blog!, my goal is to take a photo every day with the themes stated to the right...and blog each picture. I'm not sure I'll be able to blog EVERY day as I will be out of town for a few days in April, but I intend to take the said pictures and update asap. Are you going try the "Photo A Day April"?  Ready, set, snap a picture.

Shamrock Tales

I hope everyone had a fantastic St. Paddy's Day, I definitely did! I woke up early Saturday morning to go get TOMS with Kelly, and it was OH so worth it. I'm already planning on grabbing another pair...soon. I purposely cleaned out my closet AGAIN and got rid of 4 pair of shoes to accommodate the new TOMS I plan on purchasing.

Afterwards, I met up with Juliane.  Our boys were at a bachelor party ALL day so we decided to have our own fun! We went straight to Trader Vick's in the Pearl and had pupu's and cocktails. It felt like we were back in Maui! The spicy cocktail and Ahi Poke were so delicious. I can't wait to go back.

  

Oh, and don't forget the prawns with spicy dipping sauce...YUM.

 Obviously we ordered Kona Longboards, and the nice bar man made them GREEN for us! 

When we got back to Jules house after a day of Hawaiian food, sushi, pedicures, cocktails, etc...we hung out with Jack! He's the sweetest pup of all time! He snuggled in with us while we watched a movie and passed out. 

And I can't forget about our Coachella tickets that came in the mail. I am beside myself with excitement! I'm crossing my fingers and toes I meet a few celebs. Pretty pretty please.

 

Piot and Pasta!

This week has been absolutely crazy at work! I'm beyond happy it's Friday!!!  

Wednesday was my and Brent's anniversary of being together for 9 years. NINE YEARS. (read that in the Squintz voice from Sandlot) Hahaha. Yes it's a long time, but you know it's right when it feels like yesterday we were all dressed up for Sadie Hawkins in our Tarzan and Jane costume and I had sweaty palms and butterflies in my tummy! 

Chocolate and wine, the man knows me WELL.

I came home to this (picture above). He's so dang sweet. We had a great evening together, dinner at Zeppo and vino and a movie at home after. We were discussing the future, our big move, what we're taking, where we want to stop in the beautiful USA when we move...etc. Here's to the rest of our lives full of happiness and exciting adventures, I can't wait to see what the next 5 years bring us!

Fixing Make Up 101:

I tried the "save your broken make up trick" this week.  See picture below. I tested it on my bronzer. You pour rubbing alcohol in the said broken make up, mash it together with your finger until it's even in the container again, and then let it set to dry (overnight sufficed).  
>>>Here's my dilemma......mine dried perfectly fine, but with a light pink hue it did not have before. I'm not sure if I just need to dust off the top to get to the brozner, or if it's completely discolored and ruined. I haven't had the guts to put it on my face yet. I don't want to look like an Oompa Loompa. 

While drying

 

Another fun little tid bit for the week. I made more energy balls (Brent's obsessed with these things) and I love them even more now because I added coconut.  I know this ingredient is  touch and go. Some love coconut, some hate it. I for one, LOVE it. Brent doesn't, but he puts up with it because I make them, not him...and he loves peanut butter so he tells me they are "tolerable". Let me know if you want my recipe, I found it randomly on facebook and have altered it a bit to fit my taste buds liking. 

 

 

Yum!

 

I hope to avoid this look. So flattering, green hair, white eyebrows, and funny skin. HOT.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone! Now this (see below) is how you start a Friday off right at work! Cinnamon twist glazed doughnut and a mocha, booya! I felt I deserved a sweet treat after my butt kicking work out last night. 

Here are a few of my Friday favorites, in no particular order. Hope everyone is enjoying their day, and if you live in the Portland Metro area you are soaking in the sunshine!!!

1. The books Brent ordered from Amazon showed up early!!! Hello "Inheritance", I can finally indulge. Of course I have him order me the MOST nerdy thing out there while he's picking out books like, "Tipping Point", "Freakanomics", you know...riveting page turners.

2. Sail boat paintings. I can't get enough of them. They are so peaceful and beautiful, yet adventuresome.  I always think, you could float off anywhere you like in a boat like that....I can't wait to sail someday.  In the mean time, I am going to attempt a sail boat painting of my very own! I'll let you know how that gem turns out. 

3. Downton Abbey.  It's a PBS masterpiece that is on Netflix right now.  Not only is this well written and proper, but extremely interesting and entertaining! I'm a huge fan of historical movies, books, etc....so this show is right up my alley.  Brent is a good sport and watches it with me.  But, I must say he is learning a lot about the English aristocracy/royalty of the 20th century. P.S. Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall from HP) plays a fantastic cantankerous beezie. She's sassy and grouchy, but proper while doing it. 

4. Mangoes. I think I've had a mango each day this week for lunch. I can't get enough of them.  Their flavor takes me back to the warm summer sunshine, the smell of Maui....plus they have quite a bit of potassium and other healthy vitamins that are good for our bodies!

 

5. Hanging ab crunches. When I say "favorites" this falls into the Love/Hate favorites.  I hate how bad they hurt while doing them, but I Love the results. I've been doing 4 sets of 25-30 two or three times and week and I can definitely tell the difference.  I'm working up to 4 sets of 50. I'm at least 2 weeks out from that! Yikes. If you're wanting a change up in your ab routine this is a full proof exercise, trust me...it burns...but works!

TVD

As of late I have become hooked on the show, 'The Vampire Diaries'.  My addiction began with a few episodes here and there online...and then one day it hooked me.  Last weekend on Sunday Brent and I marathon-ed the show and caught up online all the way up until the current season that's on CW. The saddest part about this addiction of mine is that we do not have cable.  SO...even though there is a new episode airing tonight, I have to wait until NEXT WEEK for it to be online. The things I must endure....haha. Anyone else really like this show?

Drive

Last night Brent and I watched Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.  We were both expecting it to be really upbeat and more of a thriller.  Alas, it was not. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the tone of this movie. Ryan plays a very quiet, yet passionate character. Carey Mulligan is his "love interest" yet, they hardly speak more than 10 words to each other! There are plenty of silent moments that I felt were awkward. The music is 80's, or modern day hipster...or a mixture of both. It's definitely odd.  The movie was also super bloody and gory.  Let's just say it's definitely NOT what I expected with the slow simple beginning. Maybe I missed the point of the movie, or maybe it was just a really odd and boring film.  If you see it, let me know what you think!