Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas 2011

For a couple who does not do a traditional Christmas ourselves, we got to partake in a lot of holiday spirit! First up, the second annual Santa visit to the Rock's.
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Last year, I went as Mrs. Claus so I could witness the cuteness. However, Kerstin emailed us beforehand this year and said that recently Sophia had hinted that the only person as glittery as Mrs. Claus is Aunt Shannon, so does that mean she is Mrs. Claus? and if so, does that mean that Uncle John is Santa? OOPS! Clever little scamp. So I went over a little early to "grab a glass of wine before picking up John at the airport." This way I could still witness the encounter without blowing Santa's cover.
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He is so good at this. He is funny and clever and has an answer for everything. Sometime you might ask him to do his "Ho Ho Ho" for you. It's awesome.
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As we were walking to the car afterwards, slyly parked a few blocks away-the Hyundai is no sleigh and reindeer, we passed a little kid who pointed and gasped "ARE YOU SANTA CLAUS!?" John knelt down to say yes and the kid freaked out. "The lady today said that if you see Santa, he won't come to your house!" After a couple re-assurances, the kid was pacified, but I suspect he didn't have dreams of sugarplum fairies dancing in his head that night. After that, Santa needed a drink.
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We nestled in for a cozy Christmas eve and woke up to head downtown for Christmas day, sporting our Santa hats.
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We always go to the Heathman (because it's one of the only places open), where we sit at the bar and people watch with a couple fancy drinks.
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Then we walked all around searching for another open bar (there has to be more than one, right?!). Our final attempt was the Benson and it was victory!
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Now, properly lubricated, we headed back to our hood to go hang out at Noel's with some happy little elves.
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As the boys watched The History of Boring Stuff and we snacked on delicious meat (Noel can cook, man), and we girls made our way through the presents.
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We dressed up the dolls and made some fun little scenes. This one looks like Maddy and me on the horse.
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Spittin' image, I'd say.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Cavalia!!!

My mom has been wanting to see this show for 3-4 years. When I saw it was coming to Portland right around the time they were planning to visit anyway, I knew she'd be thrilled!

We got downtown early to have lunch and wander around. Cheryl and mom enjoying our beautiful city:
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Dad wanted to stop to get a new hat.
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Heading to lunch at Jake's:
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We're here!
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The show was fantastic. The aerial acts were beautiful and if you like horses, it was fantastic. If you have spent time and worked with horses, it was just simply incredible.

The next day was my folks' last day in town so we made one more lap around downtown (this time with John! He's not a horse lover like us) and landed at City Grill.
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It was so nice to spend the weekend with my folks (and Cheryl!). I think they had fun too :)
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Shopping with Steph!

My tried and true shopping partner was in town this week and we had a few awesome days pounding the pavement of the resale and downtown Portland shops.
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Plus snacks.
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and coffee.
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and beer.
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My mom is great.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Go, go, go!

We have had a whirlwind of busy-ness over he past couple weeks! John has been attending a bunch of training and my folks were in town. The ol' blog rolls off the back when that happens!
Once upon a time, it was Thanksgiving and we did a traditional jog around the waterfront with the Jens.
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Pickles learned how to make the bed...
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John got his fortune told...
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I had to sit at the kid's table.
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and we went through our anniversary of learning that John had cancer. We use this as our annual reminder to take care of yourself and hug the ones you love. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Thankful

I am thankful for my health, home, job, and happy life.
I am thankful that I have dance. It has given me so much in confidence, opportunities and friendships and serves as an outlet for anything I need to let go. When in doubt, I move, and I'm grateful that I can do so (mostly) eloquently.
I'm thankful for the life in my home: a happy little fish community, one giant eel, lots of plants, our adorable kitties, and the plants, birds, and squirrels that we see through the windows.
I'm thankful that even though I grew up in a small Midwest town, I was taught the importance of grammar and spelling.
I am thankful for my husband and that I was willing to take risks for love. It was, and is still, worth it.
I am thankful for my family, friends, co-workers, students and grateful that so many folks I know fit into multiple categories.
Lastly, in what is becoming my Thanksgiving tradition, I am thankful for Spanish coffees.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

Surprise!

Operation Bedroom Renovation While Husband Is Across The Country at Training was a success!
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I am a notorious surprise ruiner, so I am just as proud of myself for keeping my trap shut as I am for the effort put into the room :)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fashion Friday

Brr. I took my coat off just long enough for a couple pictures, so don't let my nonchalant appearance lead you to believe that it isn't cold! This is the time of year I'm so grateful that accessories can make an outfit. I wore my legwarmers and scarf all day and was toasty warm and still felt cute.
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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Now showing at Tease and Tone:

I have to give credit to husband for this sexy little ditty. Not only was he the one that played it for me as a class suggestion but while he was singing along, he did a flourish with the music that I totally used for choreography :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

How y'owl doing?

Baby shower pretzel-holding party favor re-purposed as candle. adorbs.
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Friday, November 11, 2011

Fashion Friday

Here's my take on the flannel resurgence. I rocked flannel in the 90s, usually open with a tank underneath. My grown up version is a little more girlie. This shirt is split up the side and back is gathered so when I added the belt, it flounced out into a cute little peplum. I decided to keep the lumberjack socks integrated to maintain authenticity.
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As a side note, fall is beautiful.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Friday, November 4, 2011

Fashion Friday

Ponytail. uncomplicated jewelery, classic shirt, jeans, boots, red lipstick.  Simple and chic.  This look goes anywhere.

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Happiness

This guy lives in our neighborhood and will brighten your day any time you walk past. I mean how can you not stop and smile? Look at that tail!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011