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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

my week in pictures 28

monday 10/21 - sunday 10/27

I was buried in guest packets/maps all week at work, but we had a really fun (although extremely quick) weekend in Corvallis/Bend.

Saturday morning me and Pat left for Corvallis to go to the football game against Stanford, hang out with some friends, and meet Abby for the first time. We grabbed Pats little brother Hayden, drove by my little sister's place so that I could check out her little apartment (pretty standard Sophomore digs) and meet her boyfriend, and then we headed over to Nate and Alicia's place for a pre-game BBQ. As you will notice from the baby pictures I posted, Pat is a natural, I on the other hand am terrified of infants. Toddlers and fine, babies that have some teeth and a few months under their belt are fine, but Abby, who was straight out of the oven (less than a month old) terrified me. Reluctantly I did hold the beautiful baby girl, and I think from my face you will gather that it was a anxiety ridden few minutes until I passed her off to more experienced hands. I can't wait to see her again in a few months when I can actually play with her. :)

Once we got to the game I found my little sister and decided to leave the rest of the group to go stand with her in the student section for the first half. I had a lot of fun cheering and chatting with my little (who I still can't believe is in college). This part was definitely the highlight of my weekend. After half time her and her friends went off to get ready for some Halloween festivities, and I made my way back to the group.

On Sunday me and Pat had to take off early to meet up with our friend Rory who had driven home from his firefighting rotation in Yosemite National Park the night before, and was staying at our place. We got in around noon and caught up with him for the rest of the weekend. Needless to say, I was a little tired on Monday.

[[ buried in drafts. fallerizing my office. the gloomy drive over the pass. visiting with abby. football. sister time. ]]

Friday, October 25, 2013

my week in pictures 27

monday 10/14 - sunday 10/20

I really didn't take any good pictures throughout the work week, so this post is going to be all about the weekend... in fact, I think it is all going to be about our adventures Saturday afternoon. On Friday night Tony and Megan drove over for a visit, so we were pretty much on the go all weekend.

On Saturday we headed out to Terrebonne to go to the Pumpkin Patch at Smith Rock Ranch. That place was packed, but it was also one of those best pumpkin patches I have been to in terms of entrainment. As far as quality of the pumpkins goes... not so much. I just don't think they really grow nicely over here. They had numerous food vendors, a giant Bug's Life themed corn maze, a band, a pumpkin cannon that you could actually fire yourself, wine, beer and cider on tap, a petting zoo, various little kid "rides" and obstacle courses, pony rides, an archery range, etc. We of course grabbed a couple pumpkin beers, took a look at the cannon, bought tickets for the corn maze, had a little "race" through it (the boys won, obviously, since we kept stopping for photo breaks), grabbed a snack (a pumpkin spice doughnut for me and a caramel apple for Pat), and then finally hunted for some pumpkins. Oh yea, I should mention that the weather was incredible... mid 70's! I was wearing shorts and felt perfect while everyone else was roasting in jeans and boots.

In the evening we headed downtown to find a place to watch the OSU game, and ended up finally finding a table at Brother John's. Afterwards we headed back to the house and proceeded to stay up super late for the second night in a row catching up.

On Sunday we grabbed breakfast at Chow and then just relaxed in the sun before Megan and Tony had to take off.

[[ smith rock. me & my babe. waiting in line. elysian pumpkin beer, the best i have ever had. around the patch. the boys. the girls. turning in to bugs. giant watermelon. pat's whoopers. me being swatted. the boys planning out their route through the maze. the girls taking pictures. so much corn. "you shall not pass!" snack break. game over. of course we had to pose with the giant tractor. picking out our pumpkins. winners. ]]

Thursday, October 17, 2013

amy & steven's wedding

On Saturday me and Pat attended my coworker Amy's wedding at Rock Springs Ranch in Tumalo, Oregon. 

The weather had started to get a bit stormy, but it completely held off during their vowels, and the lighting with all of the fall colors was beautiful. This was my first (in memory) Jewish wedding, and it was definitely a lot of fun. Once the bride made her entrance, she circled her groom seven times before stopping under the chuppah so that the ceremony could begin. I previously knew about the chuppah, but had no context for the circling ritual, and sensing that there were many with me in the audience, the Rabi began by saying "I am sure that you noticed the bride circling her groom seven times as she approached the chuppah... It is an old old tradition, and as far as why she does it... well, we don't really know why..." (or something along those lines). He was very entertaining.

The rest of the wedding was pretty modern... dinner, dancing, toasts, the usual. Although they did do the Hora (chair dance) to Hava Nagila which looked like so much fun!

There were definitely some unique personal touches worth mentioning as well. Steven, the groom, is a chef who owns his own restaurant in Bend called Barrio (I sometimes pick up some freelancing for them), so him and his staff were able to provide the catering themselves. It was hands down the best wedding food I have ever had! Steven's very talented daughter also baked the wedding cakes herself. I don't know what my problem is, but I have successfully forgotten to try to the cake at three of the four weddings we have attended this summer. However, Pat tried the spice cake and said it was delicious. Another item of note was the decor. The bride and her friends did a great job customizing the space with DIY projects that really fit her personality. My favorite aspects were the centerpieces, which were composed of colorful fall fruits, cactuses, and flowers in antique wooden crates. Finally, along with a DJ they also hired a band to play at their wedding, which was a lot of fun. They even learned a few new songs just for the bride and groom.

Alright, enough of that, here are some pictures from the wedding. Not all of mine turned out great, so I did have to grab a couple off of Instagram to really showcase everything. Below you will find a mix of my and other wedding guests photos.

[[ the wedding ceremony. newlyweds. venue decor. the delicious spread. the band. dancing. cutting the cake. me and the beautiful bride. this guy... ]]

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

my week in pictures 26

monday 10/7 - sunday 10/13

Last week it definitely felt like fall with the leaves changing, and a chill in the air. I worked, went to the gym, ran some errands, explored World Market, and met Sierra for Bingo at Cascade Lakes on Wednesday... yes, actual Bingo. It was pretty fun! On Friday when I finished work I got a wild hair and decided to start painting the kitchen, which was decorated with two different shades of green. Since the previous owners left a ton of tan paint behind, I just grabbed something that we already had. In the future I will probably adjust the colors room by room once we decide what we are going for in terms of decor, but for now I wanted as much of a blank slate as possible without going all white (which would have been a lot more work). The kitchen was kind of a pain and took me a good 3.5 hours, but luckily the paint was so thick that it only took one coat! I still need to post a LOT of before and after pictures and do a "house tour"... one of these days...

On Saturday me and Pat relaxed in the morning and then got ready for my coworker Amy's wedding at Rock Springs Ranch. I am going to put the wedding pictures in to their own post since I ended up writing a longer narrative about the event than I originally intended. I will post these tomorrow.

On Sunday me and Pat finally gave ourselves a (mostly) lazy day. After some delicious pumpkin waffles with fresh strawberries, we took a little trip to Target to pick up a few things we needed, and of course, pose with the ridiculous "wigs" in the Halloween section of the store. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

[[ beautiful fall colors outside of my office window. silly things at world market. locals night bingo. painting the kitchen. me & pat all dressed up. amy & steven's wedding preview. delicious breakfast. being awesome in halloween wigs from target. ]] 

Friday, October 11, 2013

steve martin & his banjo

On Friday night me and Pat went to see Steve Martin play his banjo at the amphitheater. Yes, that Steve Martin, the actor/comedian. 

"Just another Hollywood dilettante hitching a ride on the bluegrass gravy train..."

It was a really good show, definitely entertaining and weird to see that white hair in person. The show was a mix of him playing solo, or with his band The Steep Canyon Rangers, and their featured singer Edie Brickell who was very soulful. One of the funniest parts was when they sang a song "for the atheists", since of course all of the other religions have their hymns, and they didn't want us to feel left out. He is one hell of a banjo player, and I am glad that we got a chance to see him in person. Here are a few of the better shots that I got during the show. Sorry they aren't the greatest, it was freezing outside!

[[ a few shots from the steve martin concert. ]]

Thursday, October 10, 2013

my week in pictures 25

monday 9/30 - sunday 10/6

Last week we definitely spent the majority of our time working on the house. I think this will be the general theme for a while. On Friday night me and Pat went to see Steve Martin play his banjo at the amphitheater, but more on that later. My mom and step dad had also agreed to come in to town to help us with some of the bigger projects around the house (like repairing/replacing some of the carpet), so we met them for dinner after the concert, and proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend working around the house.

My mom also brought me all of these bins that had been sitting up in her attic since I went away to high school, which were highly ridiculous and entertaining to go through. Not only did I find notes passed back in fourth about boys, old "comic strips" and "magazines" that me and my friends used to make in middle school, hilarious birthday cards/raps from my friends in high school, and a ton of old art projects, but I also found part of a Malibu Rum bottle... which I would have thought I would want to have in college, but I guess I placed it in one of the bins instead for safe keeping. I am going to need to post some of these glorious items in the near future...

Anyway, here are some pics.

[[ the pretty mountain view on my drive to work. the house coming together. froggy friend hanging out in the garage. sketches and ideas. steve martin concert. projects in progress. some of the treasures i found in my high school bins: hot dog straw, ice cream poem, school dance pic, sad note from little sister. a beautiful sunny sunday fall afternoon. ]]