Mad About

We're still mad about our red lipstick, inspired by Mad Men and the bright berry colors the ladies wear. Here we are sporting our own Red Zin from Bare Minerals. My girl Ada and I are finding the red an inspirational color for hunting a Christmas tree.

And of course, red goes wonderfully with cocktail hour in Seattle at a dark little bar/restaurant called the ZigZag.

A very very very fine house

So, at long last, some photos of our new house and and the move! October was a month of ceaseless work in anticipation of moving in.

We ripped up the carpet and re-did the floors. Notice, under the tools, the amount of paint and dirt to be removed, not to mention oodles of screws and staples. And then there were the holes that had to be replaced with new boards.

We color tested, primed, and painted!

Here's the upstairs with refinished original hardwood and fresh paint (although I just redid the yellow).

We installed our Brian-made shelves!

And we made it home!

4 by 2012!

A few steps closer from accomplishing  my 12 by 2012 goals. This week, I hope to get the downstairs painted completely, my yoga goal completed, save-the-date cards published, and a few caterers in mind. I am planning on using a 10-day pass to the gym every day this week, grade for a little while every day, and read for the pure joy of reading.

1. Blog: update and rethink blog with steps taken/initiated toward new design for the new year. Done!

2. Academics: Complete my grad. level PSU class with an A and a possible publication. Done! 

3. Painting: Finish painting the bedroom sky blue, the guest bedroom hazel green, the hallway a turquoise/teal and the downstairs a creamy latte/chocolate brown.

In progress. Yesterday I painted first coat of downstairs hallway in Divine Twilight.

4. Donate old clothes and books. Done!

5. Host a friend's Thanksgiving: Invite people over for a Thanksgiving potluck the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Done!

6. Host some thank-you dinners for friends who have been super helpful in the past month of stress and madness. Done!

7. Unpack. Done!

8. Buy a washer and dryer. Done! 

9. Buy a new phone and get set up on family plan and teacher discount. Done!

10. Take real steps for wedding planning. 

We have three houses rented and the wedding spot rented, and I've started to look at dresses. Photographer is confirmed. Need to call caterer and print and mail save-the-date cards.

11. Start taking photographs and publishing them again. In progress.

12. Go to yoga at least 7 times. In progress.

The 10 List

It's Friday. Here are ten things for which I am grateful.

1. Oh, so grateful for the fact that it's almost winter break and I have two weeks off to work out, to read, to paint my house, to decorate my house, to spend time with friends, to sleep in, etc!
2. I'm grateful that our friends got us 10-day gym passes to use over break! My lazy butt needs some exercise!
3. That I am healthy right now (even if I'm out of shape).
4. That my mom, dad, and sisters are healthy.
5. That I found two great and affordable photographers for the wedding.
6. I'm grateful for my family, all of them, even though I miss them a lot right now.
7. Grateful for our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures soon.
8. Coffee. I am, every day, grateful for coffee.
9. Grateful that I have someone in my life who loves me a lot, even when I don't love myself that much.
10. I'm grateful for having such an intense, challenging, fun job that keeps me connected to kids, creativity, intellectual growth, and forces me to examine how I treat those around me--and that I always strive (though don't always succeed) to do so in a compassionate, patient manner--on a daily basis.

Wow. Some big, some small. What are you grateful for?

6 by 2012!

Setting goals on Monday, I've been finding, is a great way to focus myself for the week and hold myself accountable to what I want/need to accomplish. Knowing that I am publishing this, and writing a weekly reflection has also helped me be mindful of exactly what I can/did get done. I feel excited about being able to report that I completed one of my goals, and I purposely schedule in ways to check other goals off the list. I think that I am going to continue this Monday habit in the new year. I want my goals to reflect a variety of areas that are important in my life: academics, career, creativity, health/exercise/diet, home, and socializing (doing things for others).

This week: publish some photos, take some photos, go to yoga at least once, buy a new phone, host birthday party, look for a wedding caterer, settle on photographer.

For winter break: finish painting interior, stencil interior, settle on caterer.

1. Blog: update and rethink blog with steps taken/initiated toward new design for the new year. Done!

2. Academics: Complete my grad. level PSU class with an A and a possible publication. Done! Not sure of my grade, but the class is over.

3. Painting: Finish painting the bedroom sky blue, the guest bedroom hazel green, the hallway a turquoise/teal and the downstairs a creamy latte/chocolate brown.

In progress: finished the second coat of hazel green in the guest bedroom and finished the blue in the bedroom.

4. Donate old clothes and books. Done!

5. Host a friend's Thanksgiving: Invite people over for a Thanksgiving potluck the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Done!

6. Host some thank-you dinners for friends who have been super helpful in the past month of stress and madness. This one has morphed a bit, but I have tried to return the karma. I am hosting a birthday party for one friend, another stayed at my house this weekend because she needed a place, and we hosted our Thanksfriending. So this one is in progress.

7. Unpack. Done!

8. Buy a washer and dryer. Done! 

9. Buy a new phone and get set up on family plan and teacher discount.

10. Take real steps for wedding planning. 

We have three houses rented and the wedding spot rented, and I've started to look at dresses. Plus, I think we found our photographer! Still need to find the caterer.

11. Start taking photographs and publishing them again. In progress.

12. Go to yoga at least 7 times. In progress: I am going for the 6th time tonight!

10 Things

It's Friday, a good day for reflection. Here are 10 things I'm grateful for.

I'm grateful

1. ...that it's Friday.
2. ...for all of the dear friends I have who are willing and able to help me plan and coordinate my wedding.
3. ...that I live a 3-minute walk from my favorite and affordable yoga studio.
4. ...that the sun is shining.
5. ...for the enthusiasm and curiosity of my students.
6. ...that winter break is only one week away.
7. ...for my lovely new home.
8. ...that I'm actually enjoying wedding planning.
9. ...for Elijah-Six Toes, my sweet purry kitty.
10. ...for the Mad Men-a-thon that I'm having tonight!

Mad About

So, I'm totally mad about Mad Men. I've finally caught the bug. Can you guess, from this picture, one aspect of Mad Men that I adore?

Photo courtesy of AMC

Here's another hint (and it's not Joan's curves, although those are nice).

Here's another clue:

The candy red, cherry red, strawberry red lips of the Mad Men women! So this weekend, I treated myself to Bare Essentials Red Zin (seen above). It's such a yummy, bright red. What a great way to add a bold color to a gray sweater, black slacks, gray boots...or just a gray Portland day. Also looks pretty amazing with turquoise or red.

Hmmm, the theme song by RJD2 just started playing on my Pandora station. Curious.

7 by 2012!

Here's the 12 by 2012 update: I am making some real progress, and a few of my smaller goals are rather small. One of the largest has been my academic goal: much of my time has been spent working on this goal, and I am so close to being there. I don't know if I'll receive an A, but I'll be as close as I possibly can.

1. Blog: update and rethink blog with steps taken/initiated toward new design for the new year. Done!

2. Academics: Complete my grad. level PSU class with an A and a possible publication.

Final draft of introductory essay completed. We also presented a panel discussion on our work at the Multnomah County Library that we got some great feedback on, including from our professor. Just have to write a 3-5 page reflection.

3. Painting: Finish painting the bedroom sky blue, the guest bedroom hazel green, the hallway a turquoise/teal and the downstairs a creamy latte/chocolate brown.

In progress: finished the second coat of hazel green in the guest bedroom and finished the blue in the bedroom.

4. Donate old clothes and books. Done!

5. Host a friend's Thanksgiving: Invite people over for a Thanksgiving potluck the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Done!

6. Host some thank-you dinners for friends who have been super helpful in the past month of stress and madness.

7. Unpack. Done!

8. Buy a washer and dryer. Done! 

9. Buy a new phone and get set up on family plan and teacher discount.

10. Take real steps toward the next big project (to be clarified later). 

We have three houses rented, the wedding spot rented, and I've started to look at dresses. That's some progress, but I'd like to find a caterer and photographer by Jan. 1.

11. Start taking photographs and publishing them again.

12. Go to yoga at least 7 times.

In progress: I am going for the 5th time tonight after work!

welcome to the neighborhood

As you may have surmised, we've moved into our first home, and one of the reasons that we fell in love with our house is the location. Here are some cell-phone images from a dusky stroll I recently took.

In this last photo, beyond the bridge, you can see Mt. Hood. On a clear day, from the St. John's bridge, Hood, Adams, and Helen's are all easily visible!

never say never when it comes to "i do"

Okay, so I am learning that there are some things that I have to eat my words on, and that number one thing right now is:

I will never spend more than $500 on a wedding dress.

Yeah, well...I am totally in love with a dress that's, ahem, a bit more than that. Two dresses, actually.

And so, I am trimming the fat elsewhere. And one way to do that is to buy flowers and make our own bouquets, which brings me to...

A Beautiful Mess: what a darling blog. Crafty and whimsical and funky and cute. And filled with DIY wedding inspiration. She has a post that I might use on how to make my own bouquet, since I want to cut costs.

As I visualize my wedding, I picture sunflowers and lavender rather than roses and lilies, pulled pork sandwiches and beer rather than caviar and champagne, checkered table cloths on picnic tables rather than silk table cloths and table settings. I picture flying a kite, strolling on the beach, dancing barefoot in the grass, and walking down the aisle to the sound of the waves on the surf.

Portland Composts

So, the entire city of Portland is rethinking trash. Or at least, I am. For the past month, Portland residents have only had their trash picked up twice. We all have rather small trash containers that are now only picked up every other week, and in exchange, our yard and food scraps are picked up every week. So now, all food scraps, including meat, go into the yard debris bin and are taken to a facility and composted. Our recycling is still picked up weekly as well.

I didn't initially think this new program would be a challenge; but sometimes it's really difficult. Especially when you've just moved. Or when you're hosting a party of some sort. Or just when your trash is full three days after they've picked it up, and you realize you can pay money to leave it at the dump or cut down on what you throw away indefinitely.

Ideologically and financially, I prefer the latter. So I literally find myself looking around and thinking of ways to reduce my waste, to buy compostable items instead of disposable, and to attempt to recycle more. I already did all of those things before, so it's actually a bit of a stretch of the imagination. However, it's exciting to think that other households are facing the same challenges.

Here's what I find myself doing: intentionally buying compostable paper plates if I'm having a larger party over; intentionally putting all scraps of food into the compost, emptying my vacuum bag and dustpan into the compost, feeding vegetable scraps to my chickens, putting meat scraps in the fridge until they're ready for the compost. Anyone else have other tips?