Spring in February.

Today I had big plans. I had intended to get up early and get out of the city. I did, however end up staying very much in town and sleeping in. Everything turned out for the best, really. Driving every day to work turns me into a crazy person. I've even started talking to (scolding)
other cars. I instead thought it best to stay out of a vehicle today.

I've sort of been on a bit of a work-out kick. I've been informed that I cannot say that I'm 'going for a run' when I run on a treadmill. This makes sense to me. 'Going on a run' implies that you are, in fact, going somewhere, putting distance between yourself and your point of origin. When on a treadmill, one is essentially running in place. So now I use the common nomenclature, 'working out'.

The neighborhood community center has a gym that I actually feel comfortable working out in. It's not a meat market, there's no contract, it's usually not crowded and the clientèle isn't intimidating. Oh, and it's 5 blocks from my house. Anyway. It's been about 2 years since I've been running because of Roller Derby and my PCL. That's probably a story for another day. So. I've really been enjoying running. And wailing on my pecks. But that's besides the point.

My point IS that I was jonesin' for some activity today. Turns out it was the perfect day for a bike ride. After tossing around destinations like Sauvie Island or Smith and Bybee Lakes. Nic said that he didn't really feel like riding on hwy 30, and I didn't want to get in my car today. thus, we settled on what we called 'The Willamette Loop."
A cormorant? on a pylon? On the west side of the Willamette. As you can see by the lack of greenery on the trees in the background, it is wintertime. However, it is also absurdly sunny. I was in short sleeves at one point in this bike ride! In February!
This self portrait also illustrates just how sunny it was today. We took a detour on Power's Marine Park, which is a car-free park that runs parallel to Macadam Avenue and a railroad. We did some off-roading. It was fun. I didn't fall over.

After lunch in Sellwood, we continued on to OMSI, where strangers gave us tickets and we learned about Leonardo DaVinci. He was 6'6" tall! He invented ball bearings!

Overall, it was only about a 14 mile day. Decent, but not my best. Especially since it took about 5 hours to cover that distance (includes stops for lunch, wrong turns, OMSI and photographs).
Any day that I encouter pro-bike and robot graffiti is a good day in my book.

Scrabble.

Sometimes, I get really excited about things that other people don't find as exciting as I do. That's okay. I'm sort of an excitable person.

For example- I recently checked out the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies from the library. A one, Ms. Audrey Dilling asked me if I was browsing the DVD selection of the library, or if I had the opening ceremonies in mind when I went to the Multnomah County Library website. It was the latter. I had heard amazing things about the opening ceremonies - the scale, the magnitude, the precision. And so, I was pleased when I found that I could watch it on my own time- a good 6 months after the fact.

If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend it, even if you're not feeling the world-wide togetherness that perhaps you felt last summer when the Olympics occured.

Life without television is a wonderful thing- especially if you have internet and a dvd player- then you can more or less watch what you want, when you want. There are drawbacks, though. Occupying ones time takes a little more effort that switching on the tube. I've sort-of recently decided to expand my collection of quality board-games. I already have Backgammon, which is great. But who wants to play backgammon every day- I need more options- chess, cribbage, and Scrabble are at the top of my list of games I aspire to own. I might add that I'm fairly horrible at chess and cribbage- also, I don't remember ever finishing a game of Scrabble. The thing about all of these games, is that I admire the patience and strategy that it takes to play these games. Strategy is something that I do not posess... Yet?

Last week I decided it was time to get a Scrabble board. I figured ordering one from Amazon.com was an excellent way to go about such a thing. That was, until I read a review of the newest edition of Scrabble:

I love Scrabble and bought this item to replace an older set. I'd give it five stars, and it probably should still get five since the game is the same, but.... Here are my aesthetic 'issues' with this newer release of the flat board and wood tile version:
1) the playing area is not centered in the folding board; very displeasing

2) the tiles are made of lighter wood (pine instead of oak? I don't know my woods, but this one is light)

3) the tile trays are less rounded and more squared-off in profile (yes, this is very picky)

This game has previously been produced by both Milton-Bradley and Shelchow & Righter, and both did a better job than Hasbro with this one. Consider the small travel version with a plastic grid and small, thick wood tiles -- even for home use, that's how disappointing this one is.

I've never really liked Hasbro anyway. It was after reading this review, that I took my business elsewhere, to ebay, specifically. I bid on, and won, a never-been-opened 1989 Milton-Bradley Scrabble Board. The board is beautifully matte and centered, the wood tiles substantial (for how tiny they are) and the tile trays give the tiles a very nice angle. The box itself was sealed and pictures a perfectly nuclear family straight from the 80's on the back. For under the cost of what a new, crappier Scrabble board would have set me back, I got better quality. I could only be happier if I had won last night's Scrabble Battle.

Final Score: 177-184, Nic.

Life Goals- #1

Here's hoping that my co-workers never find this blog.

To my credit- I have asked people for things to do, and while I'm sure they are working on getting said things, there is nothing for me to do in the meantime. Seriously.

And so I sat at my desk, pondering my list of life goals.

This summer I took Nic on one of the best dates ever- a trip to the Oregon State Fair to see Garrison Keillor and a Prairie Home Companion Rhubarb Tour.

Being a naturalized Oregonian, one would think that I would have experienced the joys of the State Fair. One would be wrong. I was a regular at the Douglas County Fair for many years- hanging out with friends who did 4-H, eating cotton candy, going on vomit-inducing rides and gawking at the crafts that (presumably) old ladies spent their time creating.

The fair entry that fascinated me as a child and re-captured my attention at the State Fair is the art of Table Setting.

For those of you who are unaware of the age-old art of Table setting, let me enlighten you- well... it's actually pretty self-explanatory. You get points for setting a table in accordance to Emily Post, but the real exciting part is that you get style points for centerpiece and table cloth. To read about the rules and regulations of Oregon State Fair Table Setting, go here.

This summer 'Win a blue ribbon for my table setting entry at a county fair' went on my list of life goals. Truth be told, I'd really like to win at the state fair level, but don't want to set the bar too high.

Year of the ox

Seeing as how my company didn't give me the day off for MLK day, they certainly aren't about to let me run amok on Chinese New Year. Which is too bad. Chinese New Year festivities sound like fun. Lots of food, merriment, oranges and cleaning- these are all things that I enjoy.

I actually (sort-of) adhered to a Chinese New Year by deep-cleaning my bathroom this weekend. I'm not giving out any gross details- I'm just going to say that it was REALLY satisfying.

I've also been eating a fair amount of citrus lately.

Happy New Year (again!)!

Photographic Evidence.

I made several new years' resolutions- many of which are based upon the 'write more' resolution I had last year. I do enjoy words, but sometimes the speed at which my life moves prevents me from really appreciating them. And So. I'm once again going to attempt to be a regular blogger. My resolutions of 'cook one new thing a week' as well as 'document life in photographs' and 'knit' and 'sew' are all things that I can share on the blog- and may also help keep me accountable. I am a sucker for accountability.

And so, without further adieu, some photographic evidence of what I have been up to lately:
This is my baby quilt that I finished the night before I went down to my good friends baby shower. The G-mas at the baby shower were all very impressed with my hand quilting, which I did around each baby robot square (of which there were 20). Each square took me just over one episode of 24 to complete. So perhaps 1 per hour (as each 'hour' of 24 is really 40 minutes when you take commercials into account). The stitching together of the top pieces I busted out in a day. It was a long day, but I really couldn't stop myself. This was all due to my beautiful and amazing new sewing machine. A Husquavarna. It's not fussy, and it doesn't make me cry.

Moving on. I finished this last week also (last week was a good one for finishing projects).
This cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson was an easy knit. Using 16" size 3 (it called for size 5) needles knit stockinette except for one purled row on either end to keep the cowl from curling up on itself. Snuggly, cozy and perfect for the dreary winter days in Portland. It's also good for biking (Nic wants me to knit him one, as well as my father- but that's a different king of biking- think motorcycles).

At work on New Years Eve, my boss brought in 2 presumably totally decent bottles of Champagne and had everyone go around and share 3 resolutions for the new year. I had come up with several that I felt were unique and exciting like, 'taking a samba class' or 'actively seek out new music,' but when it came my turn to share, my mind went blank save for the ones that made me sound like Suzie Homemaker. I said, 'I'd like to knit myself a sweater, sew a quilt and cook or bake one new thing a week.' What I really should have said was, 'try to be as domestic as possible,' and share the unique things in an attempt to make my co-workers think that I am actually an interesting person (I have little to no personality at work... it's sad but true).

Aaaanyway, the recipe that I tried this week were Meyer Lemon Curd Tarts.
I went out and bought the adorable tartlet pans from Kitchen Kaboodle, a locally owned kitchen supply store. I lusted over many things in the store, springform pans, cookie sheets, colanders, teakettles. Sigh. Someday I will have a dream kitchen. But for now I can make mini tarts and quiches to my little heart's content.
Two things:
1. Don't these photos look like they were taken during daylight hours? Well, they weren't! While there is a dusky gray line on the horizon when I leave work now, it far from the sort of lighting that one can expect to still be around when one gets home. There's a setting on my camera that makes the lighting 'cool.' I usually avoid this setting, opting for the 'warm,' but in this case, it works like a charm. Or a dream. A charming dream.

2. The tart recipe I got from NPR- oh how we love NPR at our apartment. love love love. Below the luscious lemon curd that I found in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook is a layer of sweet marscarpone cream. I brought these to a dinner party we attended and they were a hit. This only works when the number of attendants is confirmed. Otherwise your brilliant plans will be botched.

That is the end of my project news to report. I shall leave you with several photos of 'Snowpocolypse 2008' in which I learned how to drive in snow and in which Portland was effectively paralyzed for about a week. The children were happy, the adults were supremely frustrated. Personally, the commute by public transit was long and it was pretty chilly, but it's absolutely charming how snow transforms familiar surroundings. Just. Magical.

The Domestic Life

Oh dear, it has been a while, hasn't it?

Rest assured I've got some things cooking, as well as some things that have been cooked.

I have been crafting like a madwoman. To the extent that I recently described myself to my mother as 'a domestic goddess'. I know, right? To make matters worse, I made several purchases at an estate sale recently that are will only further enable my domestic tendencies- a set of vintage cake decoration frosting tips and two beautiful casserole dish's- one made in Finland of ceramic and the other a gorgeous cast iron from Belgium. I've already decorated a cake for my co-workers (that was filled with home-made Meyer Lemon curd), and have created an uber-comforting casserole that I like to think would make the Midwesterners proud (my boyfriend was very impressed, and I count him among those ranks).

Besides those purchases, I have finished my first quilt, and have gifted it to my good friend Randi, who is about to pop with her first baby.

Also (I know, there's more!) I finished knitting an alpaca cowl (aka, peacock neck warmer). It is currently being blocked, but I will be featuring it soon, on my neck and on this site.

It's a brief update, I know... As there is not internet worthy of posting these days from my apartment, I shall do my best to keep up with these things from work or an internet-friendly location.

I'll also try to post photos soon (of quilt, cowl, casseroles & cake decoration thing).

Update. Announcement.

Well. There's a bit to catch up on- first the not great news:

When the previous owner of my car said that it had a 'little oil leak', what he really should have said was that 'this car leaks oil like a sive!' Alas. Lesson learned, more money spent.

Also, I've been dealing with a bit of dispair lately, by lately I mean in the past 3 days, and by dispair I mean the post-vacation blues.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I am not notable for taking photos, and you might say that I am not so great at taking photos- and when I do, it's usually of bicycles, which is the only photo that I got this weekend. I could have taken a photo of my beatuifuly pregnant friend, her handsome dog and husband. I could have taken a photo of the wild turkeys that came to visit (in irony) on Thanksgiving morning. I could have taken a photo of the top of a hill (mountain?) overlooking the Umpqua valley with little old Elkton nestled below. I could have taken a photo of the elk that my Step-mother's nephew shot and her brother in law gutted.

In retrospect (and at times during these occasions), I had a great deal of photo-opportunites that I could very well have taken advantage of. Alas.

Also, now that the parents know, and have been very supportive, I feel free to announce to the blogosphere that I am moving to Bozeman (yep, that's in Montana) next summer with my handsome boyfriend. I've been spending a decent amount of time learning about the importance (and benefits) of outerware that is NOT waterproof. As an Oregonian, I never thought of purchasing a rain jacket that was not waterproof. Turns out that in climates that are dry and snowy, you don't get soaked, and so can run around in such luxeries as goose down. It is all very exciting, and yet far enough away that I think I am kidding myself sometimes. However, along with a move I plan on doing some re-evaluating of what I want out of life, and have been looking (half-heartedly) into such professions as teacher, wood-worker and firewoman. It turns out that a desk job is for suckers, which is a title that I want to fully avoid- especiall after experiencing it.

However, please do not tell my employer, as I am being officially hired at the beginning of the year- no more of this 'independant contractor' mumbo jumbo- bring on the health insurance and the vacation pay (okay, there are certainly benefits of a desk job)!