moving?

Me and Pat live in Corvallis, a college town... we are both OSU alumni, and now Pat works with the Athletic Department, therefore at the moment, we are pretty much grounded to this small town overrun with students. We have recently come to the conclusion that just because we are sort of stuck in this college town, it does not mean that we have to continue to live like college students. Basically, we have both decided that we need our OWN place, independent of roomates. (finally!)

There is one major problem to this plan. I do not understand how real people can afford to live in this town!

The pricing system is so messed up here from cramming extra people into seemingly nice homes and just running them into the ground. At this point it seems as though anything suitable to our standards, meaning clean, a good amount of square feet, in a decent location, and two bedrooms, is impossible to come by unless we are willing to pay 2,000 a month, and even then there is no guarantee of a garage or yard of any kind. Ridiculous.

I am feeling a little discouraged at the moment, and we have barely even gotten started...

Is it too much to ask for a little place of our own where we can start to collect some nice things together?

Design Sponge has some really awesome and inspiring DIY projects that other people have tackled to fulfill their interior design aesthetics. Here are some of my favorite projects so far:

[[ an old wooden door turned headboard. an old mirror frame painted and turned into a fabric backed headboard. two eclectic office spaces. favorite items displayed in glass containers that were previously used for clocks. a pantry turned office. dark and light bedroom. interesting wall decor using old picture frames. wall patters with paint and chalk. ]]

P.S.
Ever since I went to Crate & Barrel with Pat a few weekends ago, I am really into the combination of grey/black, white, and yellow room accents. It looks dark and classic but adds a fun pop of color. Who knew?

"did you miss your state champs?"

Hello again. I cannot believe it is the start of another week again already! I spent ALL weekend working at a Volleyball Tournament with Pat for some extra money. Not very exciting, so no weekend adventures this week. Instead... I will be talking about something that happened two weekends ago on the 12th, and no, this time I do not mean the wedding.

February twelfth while we were all up at the mountain celebrating Tiff & Jason's nuptials, my little sisters and their cheer team were competing in the yearly All State competition. And guess what??!! They WON! I was so sad that I had to miss it (again), but it was for a good reason. Regardless, they still deserve a shout out, even if it is a week late. (Jenna, who is a senior this year, also got an award for her individual). Good job girls!!! The best part is that they were the total underdogs this season, working super hard and changing their routine almost every competition to try and bring home a win. Success.

[[ my littles: jenna, senior. meagan, junior. state champs. ]]

If you do not appreciate all of the yelling and chanting that goes along with cheerleading, do not write it off just yet... take a look at their routine and just try to tell me that there is not some major athleticism involved. I certainly cannot flip around or balance like that! 

((( jenna starts out in the front second from the left, and flips all the way across. meagan is a flyer, and starts out in the center )))

the wedding - tiff & jason

Ready for a super image heavy post of pictures from Tiff's wedding??!!
I know I am!

It took me a looooong time to go through all of these and pick out all of the good ones, and I know people are going to get mad at me if I don't put them up on facebook soon... (sorry peeps, I have been suuuuper busy with work this week)! Anyway, here is what you have to look forward to... Enjoy!

[[ the group. i dos. bridesmaids. friends posing together. father daughter dance. first dance. dancing. ring pop twin powers! silly faces. the bernie dance. goodnight! ]]

P.S. Most of these are from my camera, but a few of them are pulled off of facebook (some of which belong to A.P. so thank you!)

P.P.S. I am super excited to see the REAL pictures the photographer took!

weekend adventures 19 :: t&j wedding

I usually don't post these so late in the week, but I could not decide if I wanted to do one or not since everything is all about the wedding, which I will have an additional post for tomorrow. Anyway, last weekend I went up to the base of Mt. Hood to celebrate Tiff & Jason's wedding! It was a really fun, cold, and super busy weekend.


friday
I took Friday off so that I would be able to get to Portland in the morning and ride with Tiff to the mountain. Thinking that we were leaving at 11, I got up super early, took a shower, grabbed my bags, and ran out the door. As it turns out we did not end up getting up to the resort until late afternoon instead. I rode in the back seat with Tiff, Cooper (her puppy), luggage, and a box full of succulents.

We hung out for a little while after check in, but then I had to rush off to my room with Ashley Mellott, another one of Tiffs bridesmaids, to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. (I was really excited about wearing a new dress that I purchased from Modcloth for the occasion). The rehearsal was totally surreal..... I met all of the groomsmen for the first time, and then there we were practicing walking down the aisle. When Tiff and Jason finally came down and practiced everything got really really real all of the sudden. I remember thinking "oh my god, she is actually getting married tomorrow!" What is completely remarkable to me though is the fact that Tiff was completely calm the whole time. I think I would have been freaking out.

After practice we headed to a place in the tiny town called ZigZag for dinner, which J's parents were hosting. There was so much unhealthy food there oh my god. Pizza was one of the appetizers.... I stuck to salad. By the time all of this was over I was seriously so exhausted that all I wanted to do was pass out, so all the girls in the wedding party ditched out early to get some sleep.

[[ ashley p/tiffany the bride/sister alicia/me. dinner wine. tiff & her ribbon bouquet. the bridesmaids. ]] 

saturday
I shared a room with two of the other bridesmaids, both named Ashley... so we had to ration out the shower and bathroom so that everyone had enough time to get ready for the day. Us girls all met up for breakfast at the hotel, and then it was off to the Bridal Suite to start getting our hair and makeup done. Tiff obviously went first because her and Jason had some private pictures scheduled at one. She was wearing this beautiful robe that her sister bought her while we were getting ready and looked so gorgeous and happy. Seeing her in her dress, with all of her jewelry and makeup done was seriously amazing. She looked so pretty!!! After Tiff left the makeup artist started on everyone else. I was so happy to have someone there to help me with my hair and put fake eyelashes on me! I am super bad at it myself. Last we threw on our bridesmaid dresses and headed out the door to get our pictures taken!

It was seriously FREEZING outside!!! All we had were some pashminas to keep our shoulders warm, so we were pretty much all shaking the whole time... but the lighting was beautiful and I am so excited to see the pictures! Tiff had a fur that she got at an estate sale draped over her shoulders and with her long white dress and the misty air she reminded me of the ice queen from The Chronicles or Narnia.

[[ the scenery. tiff getting made up. ]]

the ceremony
The ceremony itself was kind of a blur for me. Between trying not to fall down or make silly faces when coming down the aisle to trying not to cry when they were saying their vowels, I was a bit preoccupied. I didn't even look around to try and find Pat because I was afraid I would honestly start crying if I even moved slightly. I guess the whole time he was staring at me smiling because he could totally tell I was trying to hold it in. Before I knew it we were back out in the hallway, and they were officially husband and wife.

the reception
The reception was really fun! I was super excited to see Francisco, who had flown in from California for the wedding! And all of my other friends I had not seen in a while, like Hunter. We all drank, ate, danced, laughed a lot, and took a ton of pictures. At one point the DJ threw on the "Bernie" song... per Jason's request... and we all had to dance "The Bernie Dance". It is seriously ridiculous. One of the stupidest things I have ever seen, but it was highly entertaining. If you don't know what I am talking about here is the youtube video, and here is a post from Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno about the dance.

Tiff and her family did a great job with the treats and decorations. There was even a candy bar complete with Peanut M&Ms (my favorite) and Ring Pops!

Another cool thing about the reception was how awesome and sweet Pat was being. Pat does not dance, ever... except for at weddings. So, I finally got to dance with him, which was awesome! He also looked damn sexy all dressed up, which I do not get to see very often. (Pat would get mad if I did not mention that it is him all dressed up I seldom get to see... He brings a 'healthy dose of sexy' everyday).

Afterwards we went back to one of the larger hotel rooms to hang out for a little bit, but everyone was pretty much passing out, so it was off to bed.

((( I will save these pictures for tomorrows post )))

sunday
In the morning we all packed up and met for breakfast at the hotel. Tiff and Jason were supposed to meet us there, but instead spent all morning dealing with security and police after discovering that someone broke into their room and stole a bunch of their belongings. Seriously messed up! I wrote a rant about it on Monday.

Me and Pat were originally planning on going further up the mountain to play in the snow, but we were pretty exhausted and not really in the mood, so instead we headed to Bridgeport in Beaverton to do some shopping with our eyes at the furniture stores. We found so much kitchen stuff we want and the perfect couch at Crate and Barrel, and the perfect bed(s) and a ceramic deer head I seriously want at Z Gallery. We really need our own place and money for these things asap! Before heading home we grabbed some dinner at PF Changs, and that was that. I love our long rides home together because we always have the best conversations.

[[ three awesome beds & great bedding. alligator. mr bear. fabulous displays. colorful chairs. huge jacks. ceramic deer head (WANT!!). i am super strong. green cage. mirror mirror. chandelier. arm chair with a lovely pattern. ]]

Long weekend. Lots of activities. Lots more pictures coming up tomorrow!

coming right up

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday... I met up with my friend Laura for happy hour right after work and we ended up back at my place eating dinner and drinking wine. Lets just say happy hour was a little too happy...

I have been trying to decide if I wanted to post a weekend adventures from last weekend or not, since it was the wedding weekend and I will be posting a million pictures from it, but I think I have decided to post them both. Look for those later today and tomorrow.... for now, I have lots of work to do.

valentines day ♥ (only a day late...)

It is one of the more interesting holidays of the year. I feel as though you either love it, or loath it's presence. My attitude towards the holiday past elementary school was not exactly great, the word cheesy comes to mind. However, now that I have been in a happy relationship for over five years (wow, that sounds like a really long time) I appreciate the idea more and more. For me it is not about giant cardboard containers filled with candy, or a ridiculous balloon or card from the store... it is more about considering the aspects of your relationships, (with friends, family, and/or significant others), noting what makes you thankful for them, and expressing that. If nothing else, I can think fondly of the fact that there are so many people in my life, including my amazing man, and it will keep a smile on my face throughout the week.

[[ my valentines day 'card'... elementary school style. ]]

Me and Pat kept it low key last night... we went to the nicer grocery store in town and picked up some lobster tails, opened up a bottle of wine, Pat cooked while I made themed cookies, and we watched 'The Count of Monte Cristo' (one of Pat's favorites). It was a great Valentines date night in. 

[[ rainy valentines outfit... pink sequin sweater. cookie dough. terra vina. dinner. heart. nutella sugar cookie sandwiches mmm. ]]

first of all...

Some people have a LOT of f*cking nerve. 


During Tiff and Jason's wedding reception their suite at the hotel was broken into, and they were robbed. Seriously! Who does that!!?? Obviously someone had scoped out the area and knew exactly what they were doing at the time of the robbery. 

The thief took two necklaces, (one of which was a real pearl necklace), all of the money and gift cards that were in Tiffany's wallet (which were wedding gifts!), a camera, all of the champagne in the room, and worst of all Tiff's Mac Laptop... The only thing recovered was her Kindle which was discovered dropped in the parking lot outside of the building... luckily her new case seems to have saved it.

Obviously many of the goods taken were material and can be replaced, but that does not negate the fact that for something like this to happen to two tremendously nice people on their FFFing wedding day is one of the worst things I have ever heard! The laptop held on to all of Tiffany's pictures and design work collected over the past few years, a lot of which is now just gone. I feel so completely terrible about this and cannot even imagine how hysterical I would be personally to have all of that taken away from me. I will be going through all of my pictures this week from the past four years and burning disks of everything involving Tiff to give them... hopefully there are plenty of other people who can do the same to help her build a library back. In terms of her design work... most notably her wedding invitations that she completely made herself, I am just happy that there is documentation of everything in terms of pictures and printed copies. After completing a really long project it may seem like anything happening to the files would be the worst thing ever, but I think having the actual item in your hands becomes more rewarding. I seldom go back to the files after the fact.

I know that the two also got off to a really REALLY rough start yesterday when they were supposed to be heading off for their honeymoon... I just hope that there is enough sunshine and beauty in Hawaii to keep their minds in the moment, and not focused on all of these horrible events...

I wish that the two of them can take solace in the fact that their wedding and reception were completely perfect and beautiful, that their friends and family who love them were all there with them, and that they are now married! In the end, that is all that really matters. 


Oh, and p.s. Hey Apple, I think someone needs a new laptop... wedding gift?