last day of work snacks

It’s my last day of work and I have snacks breakfast (thanks office lovelies)!

Yep, a maple bar and chocolate milk. Plus some coffee from the office coffee bar, and boy, I can promise you I will not miss the coffee here.

It’s a good thing the people in my office decided to feed my breakfast, since apparently on my last day of work I can’t even pull my life together enough to show up (a) on time for work – I was 30 mins late, or (b) eat breakfast before I get here.

Whatever, judge away. I don’t care. You know why? Because it’s my last day! Hooray!

Bachelorette Party Part 2

After our day of wine tasting we were ready for dinner. We went to a nice restaurant, brought some bottles of wine, and enjoyed a meal together. I love all-girl-dinners!

At the end of our dinner a jazz band started playing on the patio, then moved inside to play in circles around our table. I think they got the memo that we were there for a bachelorette party. We loved it!

 

After that we walked around a little bit until we found the place to be in downtown Healdsburg. This bar was seriously wedding central!! There was a post-wedding-group, and two other bachelorette parties there. So naturally we had to party it up for an hour or two before heading back to the house.

   

After a drink or two (plus a shot, so I guess that makes three) we headed home. Back at the house Danielle, Kate and I sat in Danielle and Courtney’s room and reminisced for a few hours about our days in the sorority. Courtney joined in because she was also a sorority girl back in the day. Carly was in on our convo too, despite the fact that she didn’t go Greek. That’s ok, we love her anyway haha!

The last night in Napa totally made the trip for me. It was a lot of fun. I’m definitely really looking forward to Danielle and Steffen’s wedding Labor Day weekend!

The Second to Last Day

Guys, tomorrow is my last day of work for the summer. Tomorrow I say bye bye internship, bye bye Umatilla reservation and bye bye trailer park. How crazy/exciting/almost sad, right? Right.

Today my boss came to the reservation to execute wills and other estate planning documents with me. Well, actually he came into town last night and took me out to the Prodigal Son for a beer and dinner (thanks, boss).

We ended spending a ton of time today with the Tribal Court Judge. I actually did some estate planning work for him while I was here, and he apparently was really impressed. I think that means we’re BFF 4 Lyfe! We even took a picture together today – I’ll post it as soon as Doug FWDs it to me (and don’t worry about a confidentiality breach, Judge J told me that I could advertise that I did his will, and I could send people to him to ask about his experience, seriously BFF status).

We also executed a bunch of wills.

And two of the ladies from the office took me to lunch at a pizza buffet. It was really sweet of them, it made me feel even more welcome here. And to make things better I totally doused my meal in ranch like a fat kid – it was good. I think I probably burned it off tonight at the gym though, so I don’t feel too guilty.

Also here are a few things I’ve learned from working on the reservation (I’ll add more later):

• how to wear/rock heels, everyyy day, even in BFE Oregon
• I love Indians in Cowboy hats
• Everyone knows everyone else on the reservation. It’s crazy. And everyone will say hi to you, even if you don’t know them.
• Old me love me (ok maybe I already knew that, but it was totally re-affirmed)
• Working 8 hour days in a cubical is really tiring
• it’s the little things in life – like toilettes in front of your trailer – that make you the cool kid in the trailer park

Ok that’s all I can think of now. Time for dinz (gotta finish up this bag of safeway select frozen raviolis – the portobello mushroom ones – SO good!).

Bachelorette Party Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

Or should I say wine drinking? Because let’s be honest – that’s what I did.

As some of you may remember I am a bride’s maid in my friend (and sorority sister), Danielle’s wedding. So this last weekend I flew down to Cali to go to her bachelorette party.

I got there on Thursday afternoon. The groom-to-be, Steffen, picked me up from the airport and we spent some quality time together before Danielle got off work, picked Kate up from the airport and met us back to their apartment. After we were all reunited (YAY) Danielle and Steffen took Kate and myself to dinner in downtown Palo Alto (they live like two blocks away – amazing). Then they took us to Yogurtland for some FroYo and it was sooo tasty! After that we headed back to their apartment to watch a movie and have a low key night.

The next day we drove up to Napa Valley (Healdsburg, more specifically) to the party! When we got there we played some games and dressed up in our bridesmaid shirts had dinner and drank at the awesome house the MOH, Carly, had found for us to rent.

The next day we woke up bright and early for some breakfast and then some wine tasting. We hit up three wineries on Saturday. The first was Ridge. This was the view from the deck where we were tasting:


And here are the rest of the girls tasting (I was taking the picture):


Next, upon recommendation from the guy pouring our wine at Ridge, we went to Bella. We all loved the fun atmosphere and pretty setting there. Not to mention that one of our tasting was paired with a snack. Win!


We also really loved the fact that 1/2 of our tastings at Bella were in the wine cellar, which I thought was sooo cool! It was right under the vineyards and the inside was beautifully decorated and felt really special and secret.

the bride and me

Next we drove to downtown Healdsburg to go to La Crema tasting room. Danielle and Steffen are actually serving their wine at their wedding, so it was really neat to go there for a sneak-preview of the wine I’ll be sipping drinking at their wedding. 
 

After all of our wine tasting we were all pretty tired so we got some amazing sandwiches at Oakville Grocery and took them back to our house, where we ate and laid in the sun and watched TV and napped until it was time to go to dinner. That post to come later.

All in all, Napa Valley Wine Tasting for Danielle’s Bachelorette Party was a success!       

dinner and music

Last night I made Dustin and I this asparagus, goat cheese and lemon pasta for dinner:

Photo credit: Smitten Kitchen

I stole the recipe from Smitten Kitchen which I am basically obsessed with as of lately. I also made us some Flank Steak stuffed with Feta & Roasted Red Peppers & Spinach (that was all Trader Joe's handy work). It was nom. On the side I had like a whole bottle of wine (whoops). But, fun fact, I googled it today and apparently a whole bottle of red wine only has between 500-700 calories. A lot, I know, but way less than a couple margaritas. I sound like an alcoholic.

Oh and Dustin was really cute and picked up stuff for raspberry shortcakes for dessert. Good job! They were yummy. He even made raspberry booze sauce to go on top (um, yum!). Now I really sound like an alcoholic. 

And P.S. here are some songs for you today. It's raining and cold in Seattle. I hope it's nicer where you are. Maybe it will be nicer at the trailer park today? I'm heading back for realzies today - after totally chickening out yesterday (oops)! Kylee: why are you still here? Me: because I hate it in the trailer park. Kylee: good reason! 

P.S. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Urban Outfitters has some great free music. So if you want some free iTunes downloads go HERE and if it's Monday you can get the free music Monday playlist and if it's not Monday you should click the LSTN playlist (then click the iTunes icon to DL). Yay for free, legal music DLs! I love. Especially when I spent 10+ hours a week driving back and forth from the Indian Reservation! Right?

the last week

Today I leave Seattle to go to the trailer park one last time. This week marks the last week of my internship. I really cannot wait for it to be done.

I was talking to Dustin yesterday about how I feel like I haven't had a summer at all. I feel like for the majority of the summer I have just been stressed and unhappy. And the lack of sunshine hasn't been helping things either.

The 4th of July week(end) felt like the only time I got to really enjoy summer. Sunshine + friends + camping with BF + TREW party + adventures = summer time to the max!

    

I'm hoping my 3 weeks off at the beginning of August (before school starts) will make my summer really feel like summer. 

But in the meantime I'm sitting in Seattle, extremely unmotivated after a weekend spent in California (one night in Palo Alto, two in Napa Valley for Danielle's bachelorette party). It's thunder storming and raining outside. And I'm dreading going back to the trailer park for the very last time. On the bright side though, this is the last time I have to make the awful drive from Seattle to Pendleton (at least for a while). 

Also I'll post pictures from this weekend soon. I hope your Mondays are just lovely (and hopefully more positive than mine). Time to turn the happy light back on and do some work while I wait for my laundry to be done. 

Because I have been slacking lately here are some things that have happened lately:

Last week my boss came into town to do some will executions with me. He got there the night before the will executions and had e-mailed me earlier that day asking me to dinner at a steak house. Obvi I said yes! So after work I went to the gym then I came home to get ready. I decided that I would have a beer while I was getting ready, even though I know this might not be the best idea ever, since I was going to meet my boss and I didn't want to seem like a total alcoholic. But I decided to do it anyway. Except when I opened it and took a sip it did NOT taste right. It was expired. I failed. Oh and P.S. by I decided to have a beer while I was getting ready, I mean that I tried to take a power shower, because I'm fratty like that. Also if you follow me on twitter you already knew that (so sorry).

After my power shower fail I went to dinner with Doug. And it was awesome. When I got there he was already 1/2 way through a drink. He had 3 more at dinner. And we ate steak, and clams and drank and it was fun and delicious and I'm pretty sure he got drunk and then the next day he tried to tell me things that he had told me the night before when he was drunk. I didn't know what to do so I just pretended like it was new info. Fun times.

I had yet another trailer park visitor! One of my favorite friends, Beth came and visited me on Sunday night. We had drinks and dessert at a restaurant in town (so fancy ha) and her cousin came and met us too. I wish I would have met her cousin earlier because she seemed super cool. Super cool people in Pendleton? What? No! There couldn't be? I'm such a loser..... Anyway, we even topped off her visit with some Shari's breakfast while I was supposed to be at work. Shhh don't tell my boss! It's ok though because I definitely ended up working late yesterday. So it's no biggie.

Also I have been crazy busy at work this week. So so busy. I've had like 15 clients in my first 8 weeks here. Total. On Monday I had like 4. Today I had 4. Crazy times. So SO busy. But it has been good because I have been able to work more yesterday and today so I won't have to work as much on Thursday and Friday when I go to California for Danielle's bachelorette party!! Napa Valley here I come!

But now I am super bored in my trailer. But I get to go back to Seattle tomorrow after work. Then I only have one week left. And I'm done. No more Indian Wills, no more trailer parks, no more internship story time for you guys (some of you are probably pretty stoked about that haha), so soak it up while you can.

tribal court judge convos

Last week I met the tribal court Judge here at Umatilla. Apparently he doesn't have a will. My boss made it clear that he is an important connection not only for me, or for the program, but also for the center for Indian Law and Policy and also SU Law as a whole (even though my boss worked with him for years and years when he was an attorney here). No pressure or anything.

Last week when I met the Judge:
Judge: it was my birthday yesterday
Doug and I: happy belated Birthday
Judge: thanks, I got this shirt and this watch... both birthday gifts!!
Me: did your wife or your daughter pick that shirt out for you? (it was a bright salmon colored polo)
Judge: uhh I picked it out myself
Me: Oh nice, I like it a lot, it just doesn't seem like something most guys would pick out on their own.

A little while later:
Judge: a lot of people don't really like the old tribal lawyer in town. I think she just rubs a lot of Indians the wrong way. It's easy to do that. Like you know, with the comment about my shirt earlier. A lot of Indians would hold onto something like that.
Me: I was just kidding... I'm so sorry... I think your shirt is really nice... I didn't mean it that way... (ohmygosh ohmygosh)

Today when I met him to have him sign a release form for me:
Judge: where are you living while you're out here?
Me: the Lucky 7 trailer park... haha
Judge: wait, what? really? How'd you get stuck there?
Me: the tribe just put me there...? I don't know... I'm trying to make the most of it.
Judge: really? ummm... wow... really? have you been ok there?
Me: yeah it has been fine
Judge: no, REALLY. Honestly... have you been ok? Nothing weird has happened to you?
Me: no... I mean it was a little scary at first but I've gotten used to it...
Judge: Be really really careful out there. Some bad things have happened there. I want you to be careful. I'm worried about you out there...

A few minutes later:
Judge: what year in law school are you?
Me: I just finished my 2nd year, so I guess I'm a 3L!
Judge: what do you want to do when you're finished? Do you have a job lined up after this one?
Me: Indian law. No job, do you know of anything?
Judge: Well we're looking for a prosecutor... definitely keep in contact with me

I guess this means that he has forgiven my comment about the shirt?

He also told me I looked nice in my purple dress today. I think this means we're friends. I think this means I WILL get a job after law school (probably not though, I'm just being really optimistic, because I definitely don't want to live here after I graduate anyway). I think this means that old guys love me. Especially old Indian guys. And I also think this might mean that I might have an encounter in my trailer in my last week and a half here (just when I thought things were going to actually be ok - FML)!

More visitors

Yesterday I had two more no-shows. And I had two visitors!
My mom and our friend Karen (who is actually my 8th-10th grade boyfriend’s mom – haha good times) came to visit me out in Pendleton. Karen had never been to Pendleton and I felt bad that I wasn’t a very good tour guide.
They got here right as I was about to leave for lunch, met me at my trailer and then and they took me to the Prodigal Son Brewery for lunch. Karen totally peer pressured me into having a beer with her at lunch (it really wasn’t hard for her to convince me). I almost felt like a real lawyer (drinking my lunch) ha. I also had the same Portobello sandwich I had when Dustin visited, but with a salad on the side, and it was nom.

The three of us chatted and gossiped about small town things over lunch. It was so nice to have lunch with them. Then I had to go back to work because I was supposed to have a client meeting at 2. The client was a no-show but I did some other work to get ready for a will execution I’m doing in Lakewood on Friday. So I guess it wasn’t a total loss.
Then I decided it was time to leave work and I went to meet up with my mom and Karen at the casino. I totally played roulette for the third time ever and I won $9.75. Big money! I also taught Karen how to play, but she got bored pretty quickly and moved on to the slots where:

KAREN WON $500!!! Whoo! (sorry the picture is so terribly lighted – you try taking a picture at the casino with your point and shoot and see how it turns out haha).
Anyway it was totally exciting! Then Karen bought my mom and I dinner at the Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Co. with her big money (she is the best) – P.S. that is the same place my boss took me for lunch after will executions a few weeks back and the same coffee shop that doesn’t open until 10:30am, WHAT?! I had a Caesar salad with smoked salmon and a side of warm baguette. It was really good, and really huge. I’m looking forward to having the other 1/2 for lunch today!
They then took me back to my car and they headed back to White Salmon. Just about then it started pouring rain and I didn’t approve. Next I went to Wal Mart and got a craft surprise and a movie and came back to my trailer and curled up on my couch until bed time.
I was so happy to have more visitors. It definitely makes my time here so much better. I’m really looking forward to Beth’s visit on Sunday. It’s going to be superfun!
Today I’m going to the senior center for a cobell meeting/to try and meet some more clients. I also have a client meeting scheduled for this afternoon. Crossing my fingers they actually show up!
And one more thing (for and from Beth and Marissa):

A sweet SWEET unicorn pencil eraser! I love it! Thanks you guys! It definitely keeps me company in my cubical.

pictures and things

 

Oh my here are a bunch of pictures and things Dustin and I did this weekend (because we basically just did everything together and I liked it).

Friday for lunch we went to Hal’s Hamburgers here in Pendleton. It is this old school drive through/in place that looks kind of ghetto but was pretty alright. The tots were perf. And we saw some guys doing the “Hal no challenge.” Man vs Food needs to come to Pendleton. Serious.

Then we went on the river walk (attempt two). We saw a bird (I think it was a blue herring) fishing in the river. It was cool.

Then we went to Hamley’s and looked at the Western stuff (per my dad’s request). I really liked all the saddles. It made me miss my horse, Barney.

Then we went to the Pendleton Wollen Mills, which has been on my list of things to do since before I moved here. I thought it was really cool. I want a blanket. I wish they weren’t so expensive!! Some day.

      

After that we took a nap at my trailer then we caravanned toward Portland. The first pit stop was in Arlington at the waterfront. We saw some really friendly ducks.

The next stop was at the Stonehenge replica/war memorial out by Maryhill Museum. The view up there is ah-mazing! We also walked down the bluff a little and saw Sam Hill’s grave. He was the guy who built the museum. Pretty cool.

Also: fun fact: one time I saw the real Stonehenge illegally. But that’s a story for another day.

  

After that we went to Hood River and stopped by Beth’s house to say hi. Then Dustin took me to dinner at Celilo and it was amazing. I felt spoiled. Unfortunately I didn’t get a pic of dinz (didn’t want to ruin the romance in the dark-ish restaurant with a bright camera flash).

 

Then we drove some more. We finally got to Portland around midnight. We set up an air mattress at Pickle’s house and went to bed. The reason we were there, though, was to get BattleCat and take him back to Dustin’s apartment in Seattle.

 

The next day Dustin woke up early and cleaned our cars. It was really nice of him. I totally helped by getting starbucks breakfast and kind of wiping the inside of my car. Ha.

 

Saturday afternoon we drove back to Seattle. Battle Cat didn’t like the drive and totally peed on himself in Dustin’s car (that made me really glad I was driving solo). So when we got back to Dustin’s apartment, Dustin gave Battle Cat a bath. Presh moments, right? ha.

Sunday was pretty chill. We slept in and I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Dustin went out and got me allergy medicine when I was having a major allergy attack (thanks). Then we went to Nordstrom and got Dustin’s new Seven’s hemmed and I wasn’t wearing makeup. Then we came home and made sushi (a first for me). And I made margaritas (not even close to a first).

 

Then we watched “Hall Pass” and laughed and cuddled and had more margaritas and then we went to bed and it was a good, wonderful weekend.

Today I came back to the Rez and I’m excited for my mom and our friend Karen to come visit me tomorrow! Pictures/post to come!

Goodnight, lovelies!

Makeupless Monday

This is for Dustin.

Today (well and yesterday) I did something I never, ever do. I went without makeup. Well, I guess that is somewhat of a lie because I did put on mascara today - to hide my blonde eyelashes - but yesterday I went totally makeupless, all day, per Dustin’s request. We even went to the mall, and we got a beer and snack at the Ram and we grocery shopped. And I was completely makeupless. Naked. I felt pretty uncomfortable, but Dustin kept assuring me that I looked beautiful, and that is why I love him the most.



So here it is. I don’t know why I’m posting this on the internet, but this is it: my makeupless picture. I guess this is an attempt to do something new and scary for me. I’ve always had really problematic skin, so if this picture was less pixilated I probably wouldn’t have posted it (because I'm still not completely comfs). But here it is, red, bumpy skin and all.

Do you always wear makeup, friends? Or do you feel comfortable enough to go out without anything hiding your face (definite, huge props to you if that's the case)?

And also, thank you Dustin for making me feel pretty and a tiny bit more confident. Love.