my week in pictures 82

monday 12/15 - sunday 12/21

This week was heavy on the work load, and light on the extra curriculars in anticipation of the Christmas madness that is about to start. On Friday we launched a brand new website, which has been a monster project for our little team at work... for months... I seriously doubted we would get it done in time, (especially with plans for a spa day/work party Friday afternoon), but somehow it all came together. Actually not "somehow", it all came together from enough late nights and early mornings that I felt like I was in college again. Work/Life balance? Weekends? What are those things?

Luckily I also managed to get a few errands done throughout the week, like a couple last minute shopping trips, wrapping presents, and a haircut (which was way overdue). No matter how early I start on holiday preparation it seems like I am always scrambling to get everything ready right before we leave for Portland, and work just brought that up a notch this year. Below I have just a few pictures from last week.

[[ beautiful morning light. last minute shopping. a quick beer break (pumpkin with cinnamon and sugar around the rim). my desk is out of control! taking a break to visit the spa and grab lunch (with dessert) friday afternoon. straight hair selfie after my haircut, its been a while. ]]

my week in pictures 73

monday 10/6 - sunday 10/12

Last week was definitely a stressful one without much sleep, unfortunately, as we continued our endless venue replacement hunt. One of these days I will post all about that struggle.

On Saturday morning we grabbed my little sister and then headed to my moms place to celebrate the life of my grandma Norma with family. It was a really emotional day for everyone, but nice to see some of my aunts and uncles from California. My stepdad put together a really nice slideshow, and my aunt Debby created a book of her recipes that I am really excited to check out once the holidays roll around (especially the best sugar cookies ever). I promise promise promise I will be writing a post all about my grandma soon, I just haven't felt like I had enough time or a clear enough head to get through it yet, and I don't want to rush it. She deserves more recognition than that.

In the evening we met up with Pat's "little sister" downtown, and then stopped in Lompoc before calling it a night and heading to my dads place to sleep.

On Sunday we met up with Megan and her little sister for brunch at Slappy Cakes in Portland. I had been wanting to try that place for a long time, and it was so fun (and delicious)! We got a ton of ingredients, and ended up making both sweet and savory pancakes while playing with our food the entire time. Once we were done we said our goodbyes and drove my sister back to Corvallis where we checked out the house she is living in, before stopping by Block 15 (because we always have to) for a snack (and beer), and then checking out a newer brewery, Mazama, on the way out of town. We got home just as the sun went down and both passed out super early, exhausted from the quick weekend trip.

[[ working from hammock. more venue hunting... rainbow while heading over the pass. celebrating norma jean. my grandma's recipe book that i am definitely going to be using! a good place for a pooch to sit. a quick stop at lompoc. slappy cakes! decisions decisions. all of our toppings: bananas, bacon, mushrooms, goat cheese, chives, homemade hazelnut spread, chocolate chips, cinnamon creme fraiche. savory pancakes and sweet pancakes. making pancakes! i accidentally made a beard... oops. bathroom sister photos. starberries! viking? a short visit to b15 for some fruit beer and nachos. checking out mazama. sunset views on the drive home. ]]

telluride :: sneak peak

Here is a small preview of my two recent work trips to Telluride, Colorado. I basically could not keep myself from snapping pictures the entire time, so I have a ton to go through before I start working on posts. Stay tuned for some epic landscapes...

[[ trip 1: the view from my balcony. my first gondola ride! more gondola views. my solo hike to pandora mill near bridal veil falls. trip 2: first night shenanigans with the marketing guys from nola. morning 4x4 trip! the top of imogene pass! last ride for now. ]]

my week in pictures 41

monday 1/27 - sunday 2/2

First of all, I can't believe that its already February! Seriously... How did this happen??!!
Disclaimer, last week I was buried in work during the day, and we ate out a lot... so most of my pictures are going to be of food.

We tried Drake for the first time and it was pretty good, probably the closest thing we have found over here to Irving St. Kitchen's fried chicken in Portland. Pat got the chicken and I had shrimp and grits, so as you can see their menu definitely has a southern flair. We also tried out the tagine again with some pork with spiced apples, it was really good (though I preferred the chicken recipe we tried last week). We also tried out Pizza Mondo finally for the first time, which reminded us of American Dream in Corvallis and made us happy. I even had leftovers of the veggie half for lunch today! On Sunday we went over to a friends place to watch the Superbowl, but ironically, I forgot to take any pictures of the delicious spread which included lots of snacks and the best ribs Pat has ever made. The game itself was surprising, but pretty boring. I thought the half time show was better than it has been for a long time though, and I feel like I could totally pull Bruno Mars's gold blazer off too. I liked their style, very old school. The commercials weren't thaaaat great either, but the pistachios one with Steven Colbert was hilarious.

[[ date night at drake: rosemary popcorn to snack on in a little baggie. shrimp and grits with bacon. friend chicken and yams. a delicious grapefruit bevey. work work working on never ending logo drafts. forcing myself in to the gym. our tagine creation. pizza mondo. part of our daily mountain views. fire pit and s'mores after the superbowl! ]]

my week in pictures 20

monday 8/19 - friday 8/25

During my Birthday week I was totally sick, so I don't really have too many pictures to post unfortunately. I think lack of sleep and my overactive trip to the gym on Monday sealed my fate. At least I had a book to read, my coworkers book actually... about murdering her ex boyfriends... should I be concerned? I had it completed by Thursday and found it highly entertaining.

On my actual Birthday Pat made my chocolate pancakes, took me out for some drinks, for my birthday hat from Boneyard, and to get my birthday present (a Kindle so that I can start reading more!). Since I still wasn't feeling 100% we kept it fairly mellow, and finished up the evening with some Grand Cru (my favorite!), a homemade bacon covered scallops dinner, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It turned out to be a really good bday after all. The only thing missing was ice cream, I was still too sick for ice cream. Sunday we went over to Pat's dads place to have some puppy time.

[[ a little something i am working on. reading at the gym. chocolate chip pancakes! free birthday hat! a few brews. beautiful sunset. awesome instagram collages from my friends. playing with my birthday present. rickie! ]]

hey, i made that...

One of the perks of my job is having advertisements that I created running constantly in major Oregon publications... like this one in Portland Bride & Groom. Stumbling across photos is always a nice surprise, and this one was shot by Kimberly Kay, the photographer of the lovely wedding photos we featured. 

[[ my ad in portland bride & groom, shot by kimberly kay photography. ]]

childrens menu

I got to spend a large portion of last week working on a Childrens Menu for a restaurant at Brasada Ranch. Obviously I was in a really good mood those days. Whats more fun than working with cartoon bunnies and owls?

Check it out.

[[ childrens menu sample pics. ]]

this one time i went horseback riding...

I am afraid of horses. I will just start right there. 
They are big, solid muscle, have minds of their own, spook easily, can have poor temperaments  kick, and therefore I do not consider them to be an idea means of transportation. However, when I arrived to work on last Wednesday morning my coworkers, who seem to have other views entirely, suggested that we spend an hour in the afternoon on horseback exploring the property. I reluctantly said "...um...ooook." in a shaky voice, although not before explaining my hesitation.

Once the afternoon hit we were all on our way to the stables where I was promptly saddled on a horse named Blanca holding on for dear life and preparing for our trek. Needless to say this was my first time on a horse.

It was perhaps not as bad as I thought it would be, although I was pretty uneasy the entire time because after all, horses are tall and I could have fallen right off at any moment! (I don't exactly have the best track record for being, you know, not clumsy as hell). Eventually I did loosen up enough to grip the reins tightly in one hand, my phone in the other, and snap a few pictures.

The end of my story is, I survived, unscathed, Pat was proud of me for going through with it, and I would in fact get on a horse again if necessary, though not without some hesitation once again.

[[ me on horseback for the first time. ]]