Two Weekends of Emily's Twenty First

Beth's sister Emily turned 21 recently and Beth and I had only been looking forward to it for like 4 years. Emily is rad and we were excited to finally be able to take her out in Hood River. On the weekend after her birthday (which was on a Tuesday) I rented a house in Hood River with the whole Runnels family (Beth, Emily, Brother Neil, Mom & Dad Runnels). I bought decorations on Amazon, ordered customized beer koozys and the house was party-central for the weekend, complete with a hot tub.

^^View from the house + personalized koozy^^

^^Birthday girl, personalized koozy, gold wall, rental house magic^^

^^Saturday morning yoga at the rental house^^

On Friday after Emily's birthday we planned a bar crawl complete with clues (for which bar we were going to next) that the bartenders had waiting. We went from the Trillium to Double Mountain to Brian's Pourhouse for dinner, then to the Pub before finally ending up at River City where more friends were waiting. We then ended the night walking up a million stairs back to the rental house and we were all sore the next morning hah. It was a fun night, even if it wasn't a total surprise because Emily had seen the Facebook invite open when her boyfriend was browsing Facebook one day, ha!

 ^^Emily and I at Trillium, stop one on her 21 run^^

^^Brother Neil and I at Emily's Bday Dinner^^

That Saturday was the Double Mountain Anniversary Party which was super fun. We day drank beers in the sunshine, and then night drank beers under a tent, ate pizza, chatted with our favorite people, listened to live music and eventually ended up at the Pub when the party shut down. We ended the night by walking up the million flights of stairs to our rental house and kept the party going (just 4 of us at this point, Beth, Emily, Emily's BF Kelly and me) in the hot tub with PBRs. Breakfast the next morning followed by the 4 hour drive back to Seattle was in a word, rough.

^^Me and the entire Runnels Family at the DM Anniversary Party^^ 

 ^^Gaby, Emily and I at the DM Anniversary Party^^

^^Take 2!^^

The one thing that was missing from Emily's 21st birthday weekend though, was Jack's. Jack's is magical and it was closed for an entire month starting on her birthday. They reopened the weekend after I got back from Mexico, so Beth and I met once again in Hood River to take Emily to Jack's for the first time. Can I say success? SHE LOVED IT! We had some beers at double mountain, followed by dinner at Henni's and then a dance party at Emily and Kelly's apartment. Eventually we made our way to the Pub to wait until the appropriate time (Jack's O-Clock) to head down to Hood River's most magical bar. We obviously purchased scorpion bowls and an appetizer platter (fried Chinese food, yes!). After our snacks and drinks we danced and danced and at one point on the dance floor Emily shouted "CAN WE COME BACK TOMORROW?!" Lol. So good.

^^Day beers on the patio at Double Mountain are the best beers^^ 

^^Shout out to Phinny for the multiple shots^^ 

^^Emily's first ever Scorpion Bowl^^

The next day we went to Hood River Cider Fest and then out to dinner and then I called it an early night because I can't party like that two nights in a row.

Celebrating Emily and going on 2 21st birthday extravaganzas was super fun and made me feel kind of old, but also kind of proud that I was able to hang! Happy 21st Emily, we love you!

Double Mountain's 7th anniversary party and other weekend goodness

 ^^the view from my parents' patio this weekend^^



This weekend was a good one. After getting caught in a snow storm last time I went "home," it was crazy to have warm(ish), sunny(ish) weather this weekend in the Gorge.

I got to town Thursday night and immediately headed to Double Mountain to meet Sarah and Gaby for some pizza and a cider. My friend Crazy Pete's band was playing there so it was fun to be able to watch friends play live music while the three of us chatted. After dinner we called it an early night and headed home.

Friday I worked from home while I snuggled Fluffy and then Friday afternoon I headed to AniChe Cellars with Beth for a little post-work-wine-tasting. It is located in Underwood, WA, and the views of the Gorge from their tasting room are phenomenal.

Beth and I were the only people at the tasting room so we got to chat with one of the owners (Anais, or Ani - the winery is named after her and her brother, Che) who lives on the property. She even took us up and showed us the Tiny Home her and her husband are building. I was obsessed. I love tiny homes and I think I would really like to live in one someday, so it was so cool talking to her about it.

After wine tasting we met our friend Sarah for dinner at Solstice where we sipped on "Solstice Margaritas" (tequila, lime, and huckleberry simple syrup) shared some gluten free pizzas and gluten free mac and cheese. Solsitce has the Gluten Free thing down! As we were finishing dinner Josh joined us and we all split a wood fire s'more. Yum!

Saturday was packed full of fun. Beth and I met her sister, Emily, at Doug's Sports to help her pick out something for her birthday (Doug's gives you a 40% discount on one item on your birthday and it seems like everyone in town takes advantage of the discount). Afterward Beth and I met Josh and Sarah for breakfast sandwiches on homemade English muffins at River Daze and then we walked Kiva down to the Columbia River.

^^the water levels are really low right now so the sandbar goes over half way across the river, it was fun to walk so far out^^

^^Oregon on the left side of the river, Washington on the right^^

 

 ^^Sarah and Beth glued to their phones, Josh judging us^^

^^Kiva the circus dog^^

 

We walked back to town after sufficiently exhausting Kiva and headed to the Double Mountain 7th Anniversary Party. My friend Abby and I decided to get VIP tasting room tickets and it was so fun to sneak away from the crowd and taste a bunch of beers that weren't released to the general public. There were also pork sliders for us to snack on that were really delicious.

 

 ^^VIP tasting area^^

 

^^Matt pouring some beers. The IRB was a blend of three different aged IRAs and it might have been my favorite beer of the day^^

 

After a few hours of beer tasting, listening to music and mingling with friends it was time to head to Dufur for a roller derby match for Emily's birthday. We all loaded into Beth's car and made the trek. This was my first roller derby experience and it was a total blast. We had such a fun time cheering on our friends on the Gorge Roller Girls team and watching them win against Portland! Whoohoo!

 

 ^^from left, clockwise: Kelly (Emily's boyfriend), Emily, Me, Sean Stuart, Beth and Hillary^^

 

 

After the match was over we headed back to Hood River, not before stopping to get Filet O Fishes for dinner and eating them in Beth's car in the parking lot of the Pub. The guiltiest of pleasures. I'm very firmly pro-Filet O Fish. I feel like people either fall on one side or the other, you love them or you're wrong. Ha! I digress...

 

After our very fancy dinner we joined back up with our friends for the end of the Double Mountain party. When that was over we headed to the Trillium where we sat outside with a bunch of our friends, crowded around a tiny table.

 

^^Me, Sarah and Beth. Plus, Ryan's rude hand outside the Trillium #worstpicture^^

 

This, however, was not before we attempted to get into the River City but failed to get there until it was over capacity. So our friend Al had the smart idea to go ask the owner, Joe, if we could just sneak in since we're all friends with him. While he was walking over to talk to Joe, he fell trying to climb the stairs to the door, right in front of Joe, and I think that just sealed the big NO. It was really entertaining regardless.

 

^^Al and Sarah^^

 

After the Trillium a few of us decided to go to Jack's to get our dance party on. Gaby and I had an epic dance party to one of our road trip jams after locking eyes and running to the dance floor when we heard it come on. After our dance party we went to the restroom where we found Beth consoling my brother's sobbing ex-girlfriend. They had broken up on Friday and it was drama-city. After trying to find her a ride home, listening to her be upset at ME about their breakup (whhhat?), and in the middle of all of this me having to call 911 on a HUGE fight that broke out in the street, Beth and I decided to go get one last stress-free-beer. All the bars were closing down and we weren't having any luck when we remembered an after party we'd been invited to the night before. We walked to the after party which didn't turn out to be much of a party, said "hi" to a few people then walked back to Sarah and Josh's house to crash.

 

The next morning the 4 of us got breakfast and recapped the night day before then lounged around and watched Ghost Busters before Beth had to go to work and I had to drive back to Seattle. Such an action-packed, super fun weekend. I can't wait to do it again. And that glimpse of springy-sunny-goodness was just what I needed to get my through the end of this winter. Bring on the summer!



Extra long weekend adventures in the Gorge

Almost two weeks ago I went back to White Salmon/Hood River for the weekend. My friend Beth was moving back from Boise (and into my parents' house) and it was her birthday weekend so some celebrations were in order.

I drove back to the Gorge on Thursday after work. When I got to town I met Sarah, Gaby and Launa for a drink at Brian's Pourhouse. After it was time for Sarah and Launa to go to bed, Gaby and I headed to Double Mountain to say hi to Josh and ended up hanging out with him for a while when he got off work, before calling it a night.

Friday I worked from home at my parents' house. I took advantage of my lunch break and spent it cleaning out my childhood room for Beth. I found so many Beanie Babies and ridiculous clothes and funny pictures when I was cleaning out my room. Oh memories! Needless to say I had a big load of things to go to Goodwill.

And of course Fluffy was there to keep me company during my cleaning.

 

Friday night Sarah joined me at Everybody's Brewing for some "networking," then Sarah, Josh and I talked about life and our futures over dinner at Solstice. Some commune dreaming happened for sure!

 

Saturday I got a haircut and then met Beth and her boss, Michael at Chip's for a beer as soon as she got into town. Nothing says "welcome to town" like a beer at a dive bar, amiright?

 

 

After we drank our beer and Beth settled into my parents' house and opened her birthday presents we headed down to Henni's for a welcome back birthday dinner with the crew.

 

 

After dinner we all headed across the river and met back up at Double Mountain to watch some friends play some music (Smoke on the Water) before heading to River City then eventually Jack's. Needless to say, Beth and I ended up having a sleepover at Josh and Sarah's.

 

^^alcohol induced inside jokes with some of my girlfriends^^

 

The next morning we woke up to a crazy and surprising amount of snow. We decided to walk to breakfast at River Daze while we waited for the roads to be plowed and our hangovers to subside.

 

 

 ^^Photo cred: Sarah (and her new awesome camera)^^

 

After breakfast Beth and I braved the roads to my parents' house. We stopped at Thriftway to get snacks along the way because we didn't anticipate being able to leave again once we got home. The drive up Snowden Rd. was super sketchy but eventually we made it and decided we were going to stay in for the rest of the day. There was no way I was driving back that night - the freeway from Hood River to Portland was under an ice advisory (oh yeah, after all the snow the freezing rain started immediately) and traction devices were required. Snowed in. I can't say I was too sad about having to work from home Monday (only a little).

 

^^My parents' road^^

 

We spent the evening watching the Oscars with my dad, hunting for ciders in the snow (funny story, we bought a 6-pack of ciders at the store and put them in the snow outside to keep them cold. My parents' have a German Shepard "puppy" who likes to hop over his fenced in area and come up to the house. He jumped over the fence, came up, stole the ciders and hid them in the snow in random places... After it happened we couldn't for the life of us figure out where they went. Such a trouble maker!), and being total fat kids.

 

I spent Monday working from home, eating breakfast with Dylan and Beth, and taking a break for a lunchtime beer with friends at Double Mountain #dontjudgeme the view was so pretty. That night, after work, I finally headed back to Seattle. It was so nice to be able to be "home" for an extended period of time, even if it wasn't totally planned and I ran out of clean clothes. Ha! I'm planning on heading back this weekend for the Double Mountain anniversary party (and because Dustin wants to go to Portland and we can split gas/driving) and I can't wait.

 

 

 





Birthday Bangs

I woke up on Friday morning after our GRand Adventure and decided that I wanted big, blunt bangs again. I mean, is there really any better way to ring in my 27th year of life than with blunt bangs? I don't think so. So, what did I do? I booked an appointment with my favorite Kalyn in Hood River and drove down to Oregon that day with Gaby right behind me in her pink nugget. That 4 hour drive felt like nothing after driving all the way across the country a few days before. I swooped up Beth's sister, Emily on my way through Portland, landed in Hood River and chopped my hair.

 ^^Emily and I in Hood River after I chopped my bangs^^

 

After my hair appointment I went and got a manicure (hair did, nails did, everything did), patiently waited for Beth to get into town from Boise and discovered that I had separation anxiety after being with Gaby for so many days in a row (I was having issues functioning alone). When Beth got into town we met at Henni's to share small plates and have drinks. We were joined by Gaby and Marissa part way through dinner before calling it an early night.

^^Only at my parents' house do people wake up to such a sight^^

Saturday was the most wonderful day. I had breakfast with Beth, shopped for baby gifts, relaxed and spent time with a lot of good people, sat at Ground and drank a cider, and then had an early birthday celebration.

^^The best breakfast sandwich on a homemade English muffin at River Daze Café^^ 

^^Dylan and Beth at Ground^^

 

^^Ryan and Beth at Ground^^

 

^^Dylan is a brat^^

 

Some of my favorite people joined me at Double Mountain for dinner, showered me with love and presents, and ate pizza and drank beer with me in celebration of my 27th year of life. After dinner we went to Cebu to watch our friends play some music and then made our way to the Trillium after discovering that both the Red Carpet and Jack's (my favorite dive bars) were both closed (BOO!).

 

^^Birthday present at dinner^^

^^Dylan and Mo^^

^^Dylan, Gaby and Mo - I love these three #ground4lyfe!^^

 

Mo gifted me a pint of fireball for my birthday so we definitely all shared that outside the bars like we were teenagers and it was so fun and definitely led to a nasty hangover Sunday (side note: fireball pulls, beers and jello shots DO NOT mix), but it was so much fun and it was all in the name of my birthday, so YAY! #birthdayprincess

 ^^Mo and I outside Cebu with our fireball, sneaky sneaky^^

Sunday Beth, Emily, her boyfriend, Gaby and I had breakfast at Bette's before saying goodbye and heading our separate ways (slash leaving Gaby safely in White Salmon - GRand Adventure END). Have I mentioned lately that I love it there? Guys, I love it there.

I went to a rodeo and also I want to move to Hood River

I spent last weekend in Hood River loving life. Hood River in the summer is my favorite thing in the whole world and I'm pretty sure if my friend Sarah has to hear me say "I love it here" one more time we're not going to be friends anymore, but guys, it really is that gush-worthy good.

Friday when I got into town I met Sarah for a quick dinner at Double Mountain before we headed to The Dalles to watch the most eventful rodeo ever.

First, they couldn't get the lights in the arena to turn on so we sat through about a half an hour of some pretty boring banter broadcast over the loud speakers between events. After the lights turned back on they started the barrel racing. Mid way through the event, one of the girls fell off of her horse. She seemed to be mostly ok but the announcer called her out saying something along the lines of "that's the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a barrel racer...!" Poor girl!

But it gets better, after the barrel racing they started the bull riding which was going pretty poorly, as hardly anyone could stay on their bulls for more than about a second.

 

However, at one point, after one of the riders fell off, his bull continued running around the arena and bucking like crazy. When he bucked his way over to in front of where we were sitting it became apparent that he had broken his leg, which was just flapping around as he kicked. The rodeo staff noticed too and some cowboys came out and wrestled the bull to the ground and held him there while some other staff brought around a truck and trailer. They then attempted to get the bull up and load him into the trailer, but the bull was in so much pain at that point he didn't want to get up and when he finally tried he hit his head incredibly hard on the trailer which made the loudest, saddest echoing sound. They then called out about 30 more cowboys to stand around the bull and help get him in the trailer at which point I'm pretty sure they gave it some sort of shot and then dragged it in. It was horrifying and completely heartbreaking to watch (even as someone who grew up on a farm).

 

 

After they got the bull loaded up there were still three more rides to go. So they started up again, the first one was fine, but after the second person fell off of his bull, the bull ran across the arena and didn't stop. He jumped right over the fence into the spectator area. Everyone just screamed and ran. I wish I had a picture of this giant bull with his giant bull horns jumping into the crowd. Oh man... Luckily no one was hurt and after they got him back in and we watched one more ride, it was time to go home.

 

We all left totally shaken and decided to meet at the Pub in Hood River for a drink. While we were there I completely offended a stranger by saying that I am "kind of into Miley's new heroine phase" (because I mean, the video kind of grows on you). After which he apparently went up to one of my friends (who he didn't know and assumed was a random stranger) and started ranting about how I was what's wrong with America! (I can't help but laugh as I write that because it's just so ridiculous).

 

The rest of the night was low key, but fun, and ended with me dancing to one song (blurred lines, of course) before they turned the lights on at Jack's.

 

The next morning I got to meet Marissa at Juice Bros (the juice and smoothie "food" truck in downtown Hood River) and spend like a minute catching up with her before she went to work. I also went to an awesome antique shop in Bingen with Sarah where we got vases to make terrariums and I scored an old Betty Crocker cookbook.

 

Saturday afternoon I drove to Vancouver for beautiful baby princess Alessandra's first birthday party.

 

I was debating camping at a friend's farm after the birthday party, but decided to drive back to Hood River for one more night, because, OMG "I love it there so much!" :)

^^I mean, isn't this just the prettiest place?!^^

 

After I got back into town I met Josh and Sarah for FroYo and then we went back to their house to relax in the yard, which was so so nice. I miss yards so much when I'm in Seattle (it's the little things). It was so nice to just sit outside and enjoy the fantastic summer night.

 

The next morning Sarah, Kiva and I went to Ground for coffees and granola yogurt bowls before heading to Good News Gardening to pick up the rest of the necessary supplies to make terrariums. We spent the afternoon potting our plants before I headed back to Seattle.

 

It was just one of those weekends that made me question why I'm living in Seattle and not Hood River. I just love it there so much, you guys!!







Weekend trip to Hood River (April 2013 edition)

Last Friday after work I hopped in the Corolla and drove myself down to Hood River for a weekend of fun with my favorites.

When I got there I immediately headed to Marissa's to spend a few minutes with her and Z before heading downtown to meet up with the rest of the crew for a few drinks.

 Me, Sarah and Beth at the Pub

 

It was so fun to be able to see so many friends so soon after I got into town. Yay for Hood River night life!

 

The next morning, after a sleepover with Beth in her tiny new apartment (which I love), she and I met up with friends (Sarah, Josh, Ashley, Phinney, Faith, Huggy, & Tonya to be exact) for breakfast at the Riverside Grill. We had bloody marys and eggs and the whole thing made my heart ridiculously happy.

 

#foodporn

 

After breakfast, Beth and chilled out at her apartment for a while. She hung some pictures on her wall while I offered moral support (best friend award, right here), we played music videos on youtube (A$AP Rocky!! #sogood), and got dressed up in our FOREVER SUMMER outfits (despite the rain... screw the rain!). Hawaiian shirts (and my new sunnies) are my new jam, by the way.

 

After we were dressed, we ventured out for fro-yo and we even dropped some off with Dana and Marissa at work. Because, I mean, just because you have to work doesn't mean you shouldn't get to enjoy some forever summer fro-yo love.

 



#FOREVER SUMMER #froyofairies
Beth and I at Parts+Labour

 

We also went to Ground to see Mo's artwork on the walls, and get some coffee from her and Calvin.

 

Mo, myself and Calvin behind the counter at Ground, where I worked on and off for 7.5 years

 

And we got a beer at Double Mountain, which I've decided is 100% the happiest place in the world. Take me back, please.

 

Beth with our beers at Double Mountain

 

Finally it was time to BBQ at Josh and Sarah's, so Beth and I went to Rosauers and got some steaks and beer to take with us.

 

We spent the evening hanging at their house, eating meat and drinking beers, chatting with some of our favorite people and having an epic all girls dance party for hours. I can honestly say it was the best night I've had in a really long time. I even got bruises on my knees from dropping it lowww. Whoops!

 

Marissa and I poppin' our Ps and droppin' it low!

 

The next morning I went to breakfast with Beth and Cole at Nora's Table (which is my new, very favorite breakfast spot in Hood River. Guys, it's soo good).

 

I got the chicken and waffles with some poached eggs. It hit the spot. And, after breakfast, when Beth and I dropped off Cole, he gave me a kiss through a parking receipt. Take that, Beth! It was magical.

 

 

 After that I hung around town for a while before finally heading back to Seattle. It was the best weekend with the best people. I love Hood River!! Take me back, please.