CHS Class of 2005 10 Year Reunion Weekend

This past Saturday, July 18th, 2105, was my 10 year high school reunion. As most of you know, I planned it after I discovered our class president wasn’t going to do it, and it was a lot more work than I expected. To my delight though, it was totally worth it.

I took a 1/2 day on Friday and at noon I left work and headed to Katie’s house to pick her up before heading down to Hood River. Katie helped me SO much with reunion planning stuff and I literally could not have done it without her. She is the best.

^^Katie and I at a gas station/rest stop about 1/2 way to Hood River^^

When we got to town we stopped by Katie’s hotel so she could check in and then we headed to the British Pub for a Radler in the blazing hot sun (hah). After we chatted with our favorite bartender, confirming our time and drink special with them for our bar crawl the following night, we headed down to Sushi Okalani to put our name in for a table. While we waited we had a drink & some fries upstairs at Celilo.  Sarah, Launa and Josh joined us for a drink too!

 
^^Cracking up at being “gifted” the ugliest butterfly dress by Sarah at Celilo^^

At sushi we entrusted Josh with the ordering and we ended up having a really huge, delicious sushi feast complete with the most amazing Uni Shooters that included Uni, a raw quail egg, Ponzu sauce and a drop of Tabasco. Mmm! I will entrust Josh with my sushi ordering 4eva.

After dinner we all headed back to the British Pub for a nightcap and to wait for Katie’s husband, Josh, to get to town.

^^My fav couple to third wheel with: Josh & Sarah^^

^^Katie and I after our Sushi feast!^^

The next morning I hung out with Josh and Sara, drank coffee, got a bagel with lox + smoothie, and headed up to my parents’ house to hang with my dad and fluffy before I had to go to the reunion. I sat with my dad and painted my nails and chatted and he got me some burger toppings from the garden while I showered and put on makeup. I also aksed Brother Jim if he would be my date to the reunion (Dustin was in Chicago for a bachelor party of sorts) and he LOLd at me and said no and called me weird. Whatever, brother. A few hours later I headed down to the Hood River Waterfront Park to meet Katie and Josh and get the park shelter ready for the reunion.

Here is what the park shelter looked like before:

^^Hood River is the prettiest, right?^^

And a few pictures with decorations/mid decorating before everyone arrived: ^^Yearbook, hashtag, gift bags for a game, name tags complete with our senior yearbook photo, and can koozies (designed with help of Sarah – thanks Sarah)!!^^ 

^^Extra pictures hung on poles, big poster boards with pictures and a bar for the food (buns, condiments, and a strawberry shortcake bar)^^ 

After everyone arrived we hung out, caught up, looked at pictures, listened to a sweet 2005-throwback Spotify mix complete with songs I asked people to suggest on FB, took pictures with a disposable camera (2005 throwback, amiright? can’t wait for those babies to come back) and played some lawn games (corn hole, giant bananagrams, and Katie made giant yhatzee). We had probably a few over 30 show up which was a few less than we were expecting (based on tickets purchased), but out of 67 in our graduating class I feel like that was a pretty great turn-out!

Kevin from our class brought 2 gas grills to the park shelter and he grilled for us which was so amazing (after some panic over what we were going to eat! Thanks for saving the day with that one, Kevin). We ate hamburgers, black bean burgers, hotdogs, chips, and strawberry shortcake. And because we only charged $15 for tickets, we told people that we wouldn’t be providing alcohol at the BBQ, but that they could bring their own because there is no open container law in Hood River and you can drink in the streets, Vegas style! It’s the best! So most people brought beer and we all drank a few of those which faciliated some extra #sociallubrication. Katie also organized a fun “game” with prizes we played toward the end of the BBQ. She asked questions like “who has the most kids? if you have 1 kid, raise your hand. Keep it up if you have 2…” etc. She did prizes for each category, like a lacy thong for “married the longest,” ear plugs and an eye mask for “traveled the furthest to get to the reunion” and a map for “lives closest to the high school” hahaha. I won “highest degree earned” and I won a notepad with funny sayings on each page (“shit I don’t want to do” for example), and everyone’s bag came with a mini-bottle of alcohol in addition to their prize. It went over really well.

 ^^Me, Jegar photo bombing, Alicia and Becky at the BBQ part of the reunion. Becky, Alicia and I use to be great friends growing up, it was so fun to see them again^^

^^A pretty early on pictures of most of the classmates at the reunion + 1 spouse and some kids^^ 

^^A blurry pic of me thanks to Alicia’s daughter^^

We were at the Waterfront Park from 4-8:30pm hanging out. Around 8 everyone chipped in and helped us pack up things and we all headed to the River City Saloon (including 2 of the 3 teachers we invited), which was the first stop on our post-BBQ bar crawl.

^^Me, Jegar and Mr. Miller taking a shot of Jagermeister at the River City Saloon^^

Before the reunion I contacted all the bars and asked if they would be willing to do a drink special for our group. The River City gave us $2 Rainers and Miller Highlifes. At 9:30pm we headed to the British Pub for $5 Rum Punch Special! Mmmm!

^^Alex sitting on the ground at the Pub along with Matt, Keith, Cayenne and Will in the background^^
 ^^Melissa and her husband, Will and Katie at the Pub^^

I spent most of the time at the Pub bullshitting with Mr. Kasenga which was so fun. I also got a little drunk and un-friended and blocked this girl on FB from our class (who didn’t even graduate with us!!!!!) who had given me a bunch of shit leading up to the reunion “it’s so expensive, are you going to be feeding us on diamond plates?” “Girl, I’m married, of course I’m bringing a date!” “Can I pay you there?” and who posts borderline offensive things like a million times a day. Reminds me of this. It was so satisfying to unfriend and block her IMMEDIATELY after the reunion was over and I had no obligation to ever talk to her again.

Our next stop was supposed to be at a Taco Truck down the street but as we were leaving the Pub I got wind that the taco truck wasn’t open. WHAT?! So, as the group leader, I shouted at everyone that there was a change of plans (good thing I’m loud, right?!) and we headed to the next scheduled bar which was the Trillium. Katie ordered a bunch of fried food for everyone because she is the best and I ordered a round of Jello-shots for the group. #partytimeUSA

^^Will and I at the Trillium. Will just finished his first year of law school at Northwestern and he’s living in Seattle for the summer doing an internship. It was so fun to see him and bond over how terrible 1L is haha!^^

^^Melissa, Jegar photo bombing again, Will, Me and Katie at the Trillium^^

At one point at the Trillium one of our classmates fell asleep on the bar. To give him credit, he works the graveyard shift, had been up for like a million hours and has 3 kids. Wow! The bartender told me I had to get him out so we took him outside thinking he’d already called his wife to come get him. A little while later, he was in rough shape and we asked him to unlock his phone so that we could call his wife and see where she was. He couldn’t get it unlocked but a spouse of another classmate saw the shape he was trying to use to unlock the phone, took the phone, figured out the pass code after a few tries, looked at the call log, saw his wife hadn’t been called, called her from his phone and she came to get him. Not before he threw up on the sidewalk though. And then we got him to the street where he continued to throw up. Everyone in our class was so great, they helped hold him up and keep him awake, helped the bartenders clean up the mess and when our classmate’s wife got there we hugged him, got him in the car, gave him a plastic bag just in case and everyone was standing in the street waving bye to them when they drove off. Immediately after they pulled away I shouted, “Jack’s?!” and everyone was like “YES!” (lolz) and we all headed to the next bar. It was actually really nice how supportive and awesome everyone was. Warm fuzzies.

Our next stop was Jack’s which is a sweet Chinese restaurant bar turned dance club after midnight on the weekend. We got Scorpion Bowls for everyone to split and drank those before grabbing one more and heading to the dance floor. We danced HARD for about an hour which was such a blast. Katie also requested Nelly and Ja Rule which everyone in the bar loved.

^^This picture Cracks. Me. Up. I’m taking that Scorpion Bowl SO seriously with my devil eyes!^^
  ^^one more Scorpion Bowl shot^^

^^Ordering our last Scorpion Bowl and touching Will’s fancy moustache before heading to the dance floor^^

^^Me and the guys watching the dance floor action^^ 

^^Katie and I getting down on the stage haha^^ 

Right as the lights were about to turn on at Jack’s we ran out and headed back up to the Trillium where they basically told us before we left that they would serve us after hours. 2 classmates got in an argument, I tried to mitigate, we got some beers and hung out before they called last call and we decided that we NEEDED FOOD NOW. A few of us wanted to see if the taco truck was open so we headed down to the food truck pod. The taco truck was still closed (WTF) but a noodle truck was open. Me, Matt, Nick, Kevin, Alex and Katie ate noodles at 3am on the sidewalk. After our noodles we called our rides and were home by 4am. ASK ME HOW I STAYED OUT PARTYING HARD SO LATE?! I HAVE NO IDEA! Ha. It was seriously the most fun night I’ve had in a million years, though.

Katie and I split a cab, I dropped her off at her hotel and headed up to Josh and Sarah’s where I only slept for a few hours (#exhausteddddddd) before getting woken up by cries from the brand new puppy, Kobuk, who they picked up while I was at the reunion on Saturday. 

^^Kobuk the Malamute puppy^^

Kiva was NOT happy about her new puppy brother. They’re so cute next to each other though. Big Malamute, tiny Malamute! ^^Pissed Kiva means she came to snuggle with me on “my” bed^^

After spending a few hours in the yard with Josh, Sarah, Kiva and the new puppy, Brother Jim came to get me on his motorcycle which was the most terrifying thing ever, even though he promised me we didn’t go over 24MPH and we rode downtown to Bette’s Place for breakfast and so I could meet his new girlfriend who works there. We split a GIANT cinnamon roll (mistake, too much sugar too early), ate eggs and had a great time breakfasting.

Shortly after breakfast I embarked on the longest, sleepiest, traffickest drive back to Seattle. I then met Caroline for a little bit to drop off stuff Alex left in my car and ended up chatting with them both after he showed up at her apartment too. I had to pick up Dustin at the airport at 11 that night so I went home and unpacked for a bit before heading to get him. I was the sleepiest monkey on Monday. UGH!

It was so worth it, though. My reunion was the most fun 12 hours I’ve had in a really long time. I love CHS’s class of 2005! (except the people who live in town and decided not to go, they are dead to me) HA! All the stress of planning for 9 months was totally worth it! CHEERS TO 10 YEARS!

Dad Update + Sarah’s Housewarming

 ^^My dad and I^^

My dad has been having some health issues for the past few months which has been scary and has resulted in a few really urgent, answer a crying phone call, leave work and drive 4+ hours straight to the hospital in the Gorge to be there with him trips. After they figured out what was going on with him it became clear that he needed a few surgeries to get him back to healthy and one was last Thursday in Hood River. I drove down to White Salmon after work on Wednesday and really, really early Thursday morning my mom, dad and I went to the hospital in Hood River for surgery. It went well and the photo above was taken right after, while he’s trying to wave to the camera (see: blur at bottom of photo). The best. He has one surgery left, a big one, at OHSU, then hopefully he will be back to business as usual.

Friday my dad was home and confined to his recliner and I worked from home so I could hang out with him (read: make him sit the FUCK DOWN, and wait on him hand and foot! – he was much better this time around) while my mom and brother were at work. We watched a lot of the Price is Right (which brother Jim and I got tickets to go to in person in October!!) and extreme Alaska survival shows, and gold mining shows, etc. You get the picture. There was also a lot of snuggling with Fluffy and dancing Zumba dances on the patio (for me, not him) and working furiously on my laptop (for me, not him) drinking tea and ranting about things we hate.

Saturday my mom was home and I got to sneak out to go visit Joe and Karen for a bit which was the best.

And did I tell you that my friend Sarah bought a house? Well, if not, Sarah bought a house! In Hood River. It’s really beautiful. So Saturday evening we had a housewarming party to celebrate her being a grown-up (yay Sarah!! I’m so proud of you!!) and it was really fun. It was so nice to take a break from family stuff and spend some time with good friends while drinking a Moscow Mule (or 2…) and eating grilled meat. Oh, and petting Kiva dog.

Oh, and good story: at one point during the night I went to use Sarah’s restroom and had my phone in my back pocket which is never a smart idea. Pulled down pants, phone fell in toilette, I immediately picked it out, dried it off, used restroom, phone was still working, told Sarah, she freaked out, we put my phone in a cocoon of a million wool socks and put it in the dryer on low heat and it somehow, still works?! I’ll take it. And hopefully I’ll never do that again.

^^Sarah and I attempting to take a picture^^

 ^^Friends doing fancy tequila shots to celebrate^^

^^Sarah’s childhood BFF, Lindsay, and me. We bonded. She is the coolest^^ 

Before Sarah had even signed the papers on her new house I called dibs on the spare bedroom the night of her housewarming party (I guess this was also pre-deciding-she-was-having-a-housewarming-party too, but whatevs). I spent the night at Sarah’s with a few of her (our?) other out of town friends and the next morning we watched some bad netflix, played ladder ball in the sunny front yard and eventually walked to a local restaurant for pancakes. Yay for grown-up (non-sexual) sleepovers :):)

It was nice to be back at home for so many days in a row, see friends, hang with my family, and snuggle the shit out of Fluffy (so many naps). I can’t wait to go back!

The Gorge in January

Last week I was sick which was a total bummer. I struggled through work for a few days because of meetings and guilt from being gone in South America for two weeks, but finally I gave up and took some much needed sick time to rest, watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix and drink a ton of tea. Most of the people in my group at work have been sick the last two weeks, I guess it’s that time of the year. I would like that time to be over now. Also, January can be over too, while we’re at it #amiright?!

Anyway, last Friday breathing was at least bearable again and my energy levels were back up to a normal-ish level and I had a hair appointment scheduled for Saturday in Hood River, so I decided to drink some coffee head home for the weekend after checking to see that there was no traffic. I had only been back “home” once (Thanksgiving) since October and had Ecuador/Christmas prezzies for everyone I was anxious to get out of my tiny apartment. Double plus, Fluffy snuggles cure all things.

When I got into town on Friday I stopped by Beth’s house to see her puppy and chat for a little bit. I then went to my parents’ to spoon with my Fluffy cat like an adult and take a little nap (driving 4 hours is hard work, obvi). Eventually I got up and after visiting with my dad for a bit, headed down to hill to have dinner with Josh and Sarah at Everybody’s Brewing. Sarah and I split the pulled prok nachos which are never a bad idea (p.s. these). We then headed over to Hood River to meet a few friends before I called it a night. 

^^Fluffy snuggs^^

^^Friendship: Gavin (who I’d never met before), Beth, Jessica and myself^^

Saturday I lounged around my parents’ house all morning, soaking up the wood heat with my fluffy cat and my family. I gifted them their Ecuador prezzies and they gave me a picture I’d been wanting foreverrr. It is a picture a local photographer took of one of the old barns on my parents’ property with Mt. Adams in the background. The picture is printed on metal and it’s so, so gorgeous. 

 
^^THIS is my picture gift!! Photo by Darlisa Black^^

^^Fluffy, who is the only animal allowed in the house + his outdoor barn cat doppelganger, Lucky^^

After hanging at my parents’ all morning I realized I was kind of ravenous and I headed to Hood River to get myself a bagel and some green juice. When I was done eating I walked myself to Dog River for a cup of coffee and some reading and some chatting with Emily (Beth’s sister) and J Bunz who were working the counter.

I eventually walked down to meet Josh and Sarah and do a little shopping downtown before my haircut. Kalyn chopped like 6” of length off my hair (small part of waist –> armpit) plus gave me more bangs plus razor cut a million layers into my hair. It seems a v, v different to me, but so far almost no one has noticed so maybe it’s really not that different? Whatevs. At least now it won’t take 20 minutes to blow-dry, hopefully.

After my haircut I walked back to Josh and Sarah’s and we headed down to Camp 1805 Distillery to meet Tonya and have a happy hour drink (my choice: the White Manhattan) before dinner at Solstice, which was delicious and amazing per usual. My favorite place in the Gorge!!

After dinner Josh, Sarah and I went to the Pub to play a few rounds of Jenga (which our friends have written all over, over the years = amazing). We ran into a few other friends and it was a good, relatively low key night.

^^Jenga!^^

The next morning I slept in before meeting Gaby for a breakfast sandwich at River Daze and then coffee at Dog River. After we had got in all of our chatting about all of the things, I headed back to Seattle.

My heart felt so full and happy leaving. Even during a low-key weekend at home I still managed to spend time with so many people who make me so, so happy. I ate good food, I visited with my family, I snuggled with my cat and with Kiva and I left with white hairs allll over all of my black clothes (standard). I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2014

Thanksgiving feels like it was a million years ago. I guess, technically the thanksgiving weekend started over a week ago for me. I was able to leave work v early on Wednesday which was so, so great and head down to Hood River to meet friends for a long weekend of fun.

Not long after I pulled into town Art and Amy arrived. Art and Amy had never been to “the homeland” so it was fun showing them around. We went to dinner at Solstice where we had delicious drinks and pizza. Then, because Josh and Katie still weren’t in town and we were getting a little sleepy, we went to Brian’s Pourhouse for some of their amazing spanish coffees. By the time we our boozy coffees, Josh and Katie were getting into town, so we met them at the house they rented for the weekend in downtown Hood River. We unpacked and made a game plan for the night and then went out to get some drinks and some food for Josh and Katie. We went to the Trillium first where there was fried food and Jello shots and where we toke some Voke Tabs for energy. Then we went to the River City where there were friends from high school and more shots and general fun times.

^^Me, Katie and Amy at the River City Saloon in Hood River, OR^^

After we made it back to the rental house Josh declared that he was v hungry. So Katie being a good wife and me being a good best-friend-in-law and Amy being arguably the most sober called a cab and went to get Taco Bell despite the cab driver telling us that Taco Bell was closed. Sadly, after arriving at Taco Bell we concluded that he was correct, Taco Bell was closed and that there was nowhere in town that would serve us food, so we paid the cab driver and went home empty handed and passed out.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Art, Amy and I went to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner and relaxation. My uncle Bert and his partner Joanne also joined us (which was a HUGE group compared to last year’s three (my dad, brother and myself)). We fed cows and ate food and snuggled with Fluffy and chatted and napped all day and it was amazing. We ended the day back at the rental house playing Apples to Apples.

Friday we got the best breakfast sandwiches from River Daze cafe, saw some sights, drank some local beer, visited with Katie’s grandma and ordered pizza in.

Saturday we said bye to Art and Amy (it was Art’s birthday, yay!) I had breakfast with Beth and I went over to see her new apartment and meet her new Boston Terrier puppy, Baxter, who really likes to hump everything.

^^Baxter and I^^

 
^^Beth, her sister Emily and Baxter^^

When it was time for Beth to get ready for work around 3pm I went home to see my parents and Fluffy and grab a few things and I had planned to head back to Seattle that night. However, not 5 minutes after being home, I was standing by the wood fire, talking to my mom, when out of the corner of my eye I see my dad walking up to our house covered in blood (no jokes), had a moment of panic, then he opened the door and announced that he got an elk while he was out hunting!! So I call my brother, get on some warm(ish) (read: not warm enough) clothes, and follow my dad and his BFF up winding, snowy, unpaved roads in my new(ish) car that handled it all reallyyyy well. We hiked 3 miles into the forest where my dad got the elk.

^^The point where we left our cars and started walking – Mt. Adams was gorgeous that night^^

By the time we got there it was already dark and so, so cold. I held flashlights while my dad and Lynn butchered the rest of the elk (they’d already packed out the head and a front quarter). My brother was making trips back and forth with his pack full of meat to the wheelbarrow we left about a half mile back on a dirt, logging road. I was honestly shocked when we walked up to the elk in the clear-cut where my dad got it. It’s hide was laid out, the front and hind quarters had been removed but the remaining body was enormous. There were also random piles of guts everywhere. It was insane. There was so. much. meat. (I will spare you the pictures, because yes, they exist). My dad is always really adamant about getting all of the meat off of the carcass because an animal gave its life and you must be respectful of that. Unfortunately it is impossible to take the entire carcass (rib cage, spine, guts and hide) back with us because of the sheer size of the animal. Some bears and coyotes and ravens will feast on those.

The hike in took about an hour, the rest of the butchering took about an hour and the hike out took about an hour. It was approximately 25 degrees out. My brother ended up hiking all the way out with a bag full of approximately 150lbs of elk meat pieces (from the torso of the elk – rib meat, tenderloin, back straps, etc.) on his back. He just went as quick as he could toward the cars. My dad, Lynn and I walked more slowly with the wheelbarrow full of probably 400lbs of meat (the other front quarter and two hind quarters). I carried gear and held flashlights for everyone while my dad and Lynn took turns pushing the wheelbarrow (note: both of them are in their mid 60s). One of them would push until they were about to collapse/pass out (Lynn) or until their wrists and shoulders hurt too badly (my dad) and then they would switch off. It was a really long walk. We were all really tired and cold on the way back. We eventually made it back to the cars we loaded the meat into the back of Lynn’s truck and my brother and I got into my car and turned my heat and seat warmers on high. We were still cold when we got home about 1/2 hour later. We followed my dad and Lynn back down the winding, snowy, dark roads and at one point their truck pulled over. Lynn hadn’t taken his heart medication, had already packed meat out that day, hadn’t eaten or drank any water and was feeling like he was going to pass out. My dad drove the rest of the way and we got him some water when he got back to our house to hang the meat. I was legit scared he was going to die. He didn’t. A lesson in not pushing yourself too hard. Stubborn man, you!

^^My dad, Lynn and my dad’s elk head^^

^^Proud dad and his elk head^^

After the meat was hung and Lynn was safely home I tried and tried to get warm by the fire and check my phone because I finally had cell reception again. I was pretty much dead. My mom saw the three of us being super pathetic and made us some delicious comfort food for dinner – this white turkey gravy stuff over toast and asparagus. I saw her put an entire stick of butter into that gravy stuff. My dad brother and I ate all of it. No fucks were given about health.

Because all of my things were in Hood River, I headed back to town, met Sarah and Laura for a quick drink, finally started to warm up, went and swooped up Josh and Katie to meet Beth at the Red Carpet for a “White Salmon Takeover.” We had a really fun time seeing people from high school and then went back to the rental house to pass the fuck out.

The next morning I met my mom, dad and brother at Nora’s Table for breakfast because it was my mom’s birthday. It’s not a place my family would usually go because it’s in Hood River and it’s kind of fancy/yuppy, but my parents loved it and I think they’ll go back which is a total win. After breakfast I headed back to Seattle and had one of the most stressful drives back ever I’ll tell you the short version because oh my this is a lot of words in one post: there was a hit and run/car chase that was occurring IN traffic, on I5-North during which I almost got hit by the runaway car and it was terrifying and I wanted to cry/had terrible anxiety after, and then two cars almost hit me while I was in their blind spot after that. Then Dustin and I ate Chinese food and I felt better. The end!

Opening weekend failure

As many of you already know, I hunt. I grew up hunting on my parents’ ranch and I got my first deer when I was in 7th grade. It’s something I always feel weird talking about because I never know if I’m going to offend someone or if this fact about me will be off-putting, but it’s part of who I am and this is my blog so I’m going to go with it. My family eats the meat from the animals we kill and we donate the hides and sometimes my friend Sarah makes things out of the bones and honestly, it’s something I enjoy doing (mostly – sometimes it makes me sad #somanyfeelings #donttellmydad).

Anyway, last weekend was opening day/weekend of deer season in my neck of the woods, so I made the trek, for the millionth time this month, down to my parents’ house to head out hunting at daylight Saturday morning. Last year I shot my deer within minutes of leaving the house on opening morning, but this year I didn’t even so much as see a deer. At least the scenery was great though!

After hiking around outside with a gun for a few hours (I forgot how hard that is, btw – lots of hills, lots of brush, carrying a gun and wearing uncomfortable clothes) with zero deer sightings I headed home. It was a bad morning for everyone in my family. I napped for a few hours with sweet Fluffy before heading to Hood River to run a few errands (including the worst ever, Wal Mart – BOO Wal Mart!) and grab a breakfast sandwich with Gaby.

On my drive home from Hood River I saw SEVEN! deer on the side of the road (WTF?), so shortly after I got back from town (isn’t it funny to hear someone say that? you know you live in the country when…) I headed back out for an evening hunt with my dad. We hiked around for about 2.5 hours and only ended up seeing three deer (none of which had horns). Bummerville. I was exhausted but decided I should probably be a little social, so I went back to Hood River to meet Sarah and Josh for dinner at Solstice which was delicious and amazing, per usual, after which I headed home to go to bed.

Sunday morning I woke up early again and hunted by myself and saw one deer, with only one horn (what happened to your other horn, little deer?!). Deer have to be three-point or better to shoot in the area where I was hunting, so he was a no-go.

It was a pretty unsuccessful weekend hunting wise, but I did really enjoy hiking around on my parents’ property, even if it did end with really blistered feet and some blood drawn from both my boots and some berry bushes.

^^It’s hard to see but in the background there is Mount Hood and below that to the right is Hood River and even further to the right is the Columbia River Gorge (although technically, I – I promise it was much better in person, darn iPhone^^

I got a text from my mom Tuesday night letting me know that there were a lot of deer out that evening, and then a little while later, while I was at happy hour with some friends my mom text me to tell me my brother got a deer. I responded with “pic or it didn’t happen” because I’m the best daughter. She sent one back – it happened. Whatever, brother.

Tonight I need to decide if I want to make the trek back down for the MILLIONTH (7th) weekend. Part of me really wants to get outside and get the most out of my tag but the other part of me is realllllyyyy craving a weekend in Seattle. We shall see.

Anyway, I hope I didn’t offend any of you with all my hunting talk and things. I also hope you’re having an excellent week! Talk soon, friends!

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.

 

 

 





Laurence Lake, Kittens, a Puppy and My Favorite People

 

A few weekends ago I spent my millionth summer weekend in Hood River and it was magical. I got into town Friday evening and headed to the Sandbar Cafe with Beth to meet Sarah stare at the above scenery, drink a beer and listen to some live music. It was the perfect welcome to town.

 

(get ready for some crappy iPhone photos...) 

^^Sarah, Beth, Laura and Launa making dinner^^

After the sandbar café we headed to our friend Launa's house for a girls night. We walked up to the Farm Stand (side note: I wish the Farm Stand was in Seattle, swoon!), bought some fresh ingredients and made a delicious dinner complete with wine and chocolate gelato which we ate with spoons straight from the carton while chatting around the table.

Saturday Josh, Sarah, Marissa, Zara, Kiva and I headed up to Laurence Lake for a few hours of relaxing by the water.

^^Kiva at Laurence Lake^^ 

 

After we left the lake I dropped Marissa and Zara so Zara could nap, picked up Beth and she, Josh, Sarah and I headed up to my parents' house to play with kittens and my parents' puppy (read: giant, 9 month old German Shepard). 

 

 ^^Me, Josh and Beth at my parents' house with kittens^^

 

^^Blaze and Snack (dog and cat) playing^^ 

^^After Sarah tamed this giant dog and we became friends^^ 

After getting our fill of Baby Animals on the Farm (was that anyone else's favorite book growing up?!) we left and headed to the Crazy Pepper for Mexican food and margaritas.

After we were full we relaxed for a while before heading to the pub to meet up with some more friends. The usual: drinks and chatting ensued and Beth and I ended up dancing our little hearts out at Jack's.

^^Tall Paul checking out Sarah's new tattoo at the pub^^ 

^^Josh, stylin' (per usual) in Beth's glasses^^ 

Sunday I met Sarah at the local juice truck (genius, they need one of those in Seattle too!), before we headed to North West 23rd Street in Portland for some shopping at Sloan. After I procured some new booties, a dress and a coat I headed back to Seattle. There was crazy traffic and it ended up taking 2 hours longer than expected to get back, making me an hour and a half late for dinner at Katie's with her dad (the latest I've ever been to anything, ever). Luckily she saved me a plate and I was early for dessert.

Even though I feel like I've been to Hood River a million times this summer, I'm still not over it. I want to go back ASAP. I foresee some amazing fall visits to my favorite place in the near future.