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.

 

 

 





on other peoples' stress

^^on my way home from work last night at the end of the 520 bridge^^

Yesterday was a stressful day for me, not necessarily because anything stressful was happening in my life but because really stressful things were happening in some of my close friends' lives. Two friends were having job issues, another was going to have to spend the evening in uncomfortable company, and another was threatened/verbally attacked at work and ended up having to call the cops (who weren't much help). Yikes! So before I went to yoga last night I resolved to make my intention "let it go," as in "don't let other people's stress stress you out." So I did just that and every time I started to stress about a friend's stress during class I tried my hardest to pushed it out of my mind. It turns out I was the only person who showed up to that class so I got some great one-on-one time with my instructor and ended up mastering the crow pose which was really exiting (I'm still very much a beginner). I felt much calmer after class.

Later that evening I was eating dinner and I inhaled a piece of onion. Guys, I thought I was going to die. I couldn't breathe and kept gasping for air/coughing and finally I burst into tears, coughed a huge cough and dislodged the onion. I've never choked like that before. It was terrifying. I almost died.

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic.
Don't judge me.

Anyway, back to the point, it's interesting how other people's moods/energy/circumstances can really affect your day. I am pretty empathetic so my friends' stress tends to stress me out a lot. Similarly though, I find so much joy in my friends' joy and accomplishments. Double edge sword I suppose.

This afternoon I took a work break to have a full blown, 4 1/2 minute long dance party to "Blurred Lines" with my coworker (who just recently discovered the song. How?). We were both smiling and laughing the whole time. It was the best. #100happydays

And, on a random note, I'm dying to try these ginger beer margaritas. Who wants to come over for a stress-free drink after work? TGIF!

#100happydays

Have you guys heard of 100 Happy Days Challenge? You participate by submitting a picture of something that made you happy, every day for 100 days. The idea is that by doing this you will become more aware of things that make you happy and eventually you'll become happier overall. Plus, at the end of the challenge you receive a little book containing your 100 days of happiness. How cool is that?

I've read that writing down the things that made you happy at the end of the day tends to make people happier and more grateful overall. I convinced a few of my friends to participate in the #100happydays challenge with me and because doing it together on a public platform will likely keep us more accountable and we'll have a greater chance at making a difference in our lives. I plan on participating via Twitter (and because my Instagram links to my Twitter that makes it extra perfect).

To get this #100happydays thing rolling here's something that is making me happy today: I recently bought a Groupon to Core Power Yoga here in Seattle. I've heard great things about them from my coworker who is also an instructor there, so when I saw the Groupon I decided to go for it. I went to my first class last night and I loved that it was a quick-paced, power vinyasa class in a heated (but not "hot") room, and it was set to fun music. While I'm a little sore from the class today, I'm thankful that my body is healthy and functioning and that I was able to find the time yesterday to practice some Yoga. Also, I'm feeling less back pain today, maybe as a result of my class last night, and that definitely makes me happy.

So tell me, will you guys participate in the 100 Happy Days Challenge?
If you do, please share the platform on which you plan to participate so I can follow your happiness!

HELLO ZARA!

Last night I was invited to attend the Zara VIP pre-opening event at Seattle's (and the Northwest's) first Zara in Westlake Center. I love Zara and visited their stores while I was in both San Francisco and Las Vegas recently. I have been looking forward to Zara's Seattle opening since I first heard the news about a year ago, so of course I was thrilled to be invited to shop and drink champagne with all of the most fashionable people in Seattle (I swear, ALL of them were there last night, I have not felt so frumpy in I don't know how long - note to self: next time you get invited to any sort of pre-opening VIP thing, don't come straight from work, wear something cute too) the night before it opened its doors to the public.

^^Natalie's tights were a casualty of a not-true-to-size dress^^

After waiting in line, Danielle, Brittan, Natalie and I got in, got sweet friendship bracelets tied on our wrists, grabbed a glass of champagne and started shopping. The store is HUGE (one of the biggest in America) and beautiful. They did such a nice job at the event too, there were people everywhere to help you with anything you needed and to give you a fresh glass of champagne as soon as yours ran out. At one point I looked at Natalie, asked her a question and a staff member, without skipping a beat, answered it for us. There was a downside though, because as we asked a random man to take a picture for us, someone stepped in and told us that there were no pictures allowed as there were professionals doing that job for us. Womp womp. So, consider all of these sneaky iPhone pictures contraband.

^^Natalie and Danielle^^

Along with endless champagne they also had people walking around serving the tiniest ever appetizers (they were almost funny they were so small), they had a DJ and a live musician, and of course there were a ton of really cute clothes (and shoes, and bags too). I wanted it all. Budgets are such a bummer, aren't they? And as a bonus, there was someone with a Shoshanna front bun! The only downside, and I'm sure this is true of Zara everywhere, was that all of the clothes seemed to run a size small so I was constantly having to try things on in a bigger size than I normally wear. That being said I left with a few really cute things.

^^SPY: the Shoshanna bun in this sneaky selfie^^

After the event we grabbed a bite to eat nearby at a restaurant where they print the calories on the menu and where nothing on the menu had less than about 1,000 calories. Why do that? #rude And then called it a night. I can't wait to go back soon. Welcome to Seattle, Zara!

Snowy Seattle Weekend

It's been almost two winters since I last saw snow in Seattle. Last winter was totally lacking and the one snowy morning we had earlier this year I was in snowless Hood River for the weekend. Meanwhile, the past few days all my friends in the Gorge and in Portland have been Instagramming and Snapchatting and Facebooking all about the tons of snow they have and their awesome snow days, etc. etc. While I don't love the snow, I have to say it made me a little bit jealous. I must have had some snow FOMO or something.

Saturday night I met Brittan for dinner in our neighborhood at the Latona Pub. While we were finishing our dinner it started snowing big, fluffy flakes that were immediately sticking to the ground. We decided to grab another beer (pitcher) at our favorite local bar, Teddy's, to celebrate. We Snapchatted snowy, tipsy snaps and watched muted Olympic Ice Skating while Prince played in the background, and convinced our friend Natalie and her friend Boyd to join us for a drink too.

The next morning I woke up and immediately, before the hangover set in, jumped out of bed and looked out the window to make sure it was still snowy. It was. So I put on my UGGs (cute, I know), grabbed a coffee and then headed to the lake which was the most beautiful thing. I forgot about the sound that snow makes when you walk on it. And how quite everything is after it snows. It was a really great morning. Now it's in the upper 30s and pouring rain. So much for snow. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Las Vegas 01/14

A few weekends ago I flew down to Las Vegas for a long weekend. I left an extra rainy Seattle Thursday after work and I met Gaby and her friend Dan in Sin City where we were stayed in the really beautiful Palazzo Hotel.

 

 Friday, upon my arrival to the hotel, Gaby and Dan met me in the lobby with a cocktail (like good friends do). We then headed to the room, changed (into my sparkle shorts), and went to Tao for some dancing to Juicy J (who was the guest DJ that night) which didn't happen because Tao is the most crowded nightclub ever. EVER. Don't ever go there and think there will be room to dance, or you know, get out in case there is a fire because there will be none of that! Dan called it an early night because he had to attend the last day of the consumer electronics tradeshow Friday morning, at which time Gaby and I went across the street to a way less crowded country bar named Gilly's where we sat on saddles at the bar.

Saturday morning Gaby and I woke up, grabbed some coffee and a "treat" from the Coffee Bean (I love) for breakfast which we ate in our hotel room while admiring the view. We spent the rest of the day while Dan was at work shopping (Zara and Top Shop), eating guacamole and drinking margaritas outside (in January!!!), and playing roulette at Circus Circus.

 

When Dan got off work we met him for dinner at Mario Batali's restaurant, Otto. We shared appetizers, had drinks and dessert and I had carbonara pizza. The whole meal was really delicious. We walked around for a little bit after dinner, Snapchatted all the snaps, then called it a night.

Saturday consisted of us sleeping in, room service breakfast, me betting on my first ever sports game (Seahawks won but did not beat the spread, therefore I lost, BOO), walking up the strip, getting novelty sized slushy drinks, and taking a taxi through in-n-out burger then back to our hotel to watch the Seahawks game. We ate pizza that night at New York New York before going to see the Circ de Sole show Zumanity, and then we walked all the way back back to the Palazzo where Gaby and I ate room service before going to sleep.

 

And Sunday, we said goodbye to the sunshine and each other, got on our planes and left Las Vegas. The trip wasn't too crazy, but we definitely had a fun time. It was nice to get out of the Seattle rain for a few days, even though it wasn't pool season (being there during off season was a first for me). Until next time, Las Vegas! XO