The Great Journey South

This is going to be brief with the words. I am currently taking in the sights, sounds, food, and alcohol of Ashland, Oregon with two of my best friends. The "great journey south" as I like to call it began on Tuesday when I packed my car up and headed down to Portland for the night before making my way to Ashland. Here are a few highlights...

While Christmas shopping for my parents dog (yeah, I know, I know) I got to spend some quality time with this adorable beast.

The drive was a great mixture of eerie fog and much needed sunshine.

Santa hosted a spelling bee at Louie's Restaurant and Bar. Although our team name was "Californians Spell Better Than Oregonians" a local named Fran won the bee. Boo hiss.


Today we have done some wine tasting and some shopping around town. The picture above is of the store Prize which may in fact be my soul manifested as a darling treasure trove of trinkets and treats. I got in trouble for taking a picture but think about all the store traffic they're going to be getting now that I posted it here! (That last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. F-your-I.)

Now I need to go sleep off the wine from aforementioned tasting before eating more, drinking more, and showing Ashland, Oregon what karaoke is all about. (Cross your fingers they have "Christmas Shoes" available to perform!)

K.I.T.
Me.

Weekend Update

The weekend was great... way too short... but great. Saturday morning friends, Alexis and Mark to be exact, and I got up bright and early and headed 4.5 hours south (and a little east) to Scio, Oregon for the wedding of my very first college roommate Annie. After the festivities subsided we drove back up i5 and we crashed with one of my nearest and dearest friends Caitlin and her other half Jeff. There I watched my first episode of Community (oh how I laughed) followed by what is quite possibly the best concept for a show ever... Puppies vs. Babies. "What the what?" you ask. Well I'll tell you what is the what... it's the best viral videos of puppies up against the cutest videos of babies and a panel of "judges" decides who's the cutest! Yeah, another reason I should consider getting cable.

I had made a pretty sweet mix for the drive down to Oregon but our chauffeur did not have an auxiliary outlet in his Chevrolet Malibu (say it with me, "WHAT THE WHAT?!"). Luckily I got home with enough time yesterday to go on a walk and enjoy my craftsmanship. Here's what I listened to:

Knots - Jeremy Messersmith
Santa Fe - Beirut
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
Silly Fathers - Rubblebucket (*my new addiction!)
Stranger - Dr. Dog
Fish Sticks - Heligoats
The Honest Truth - Typhoon
Little River - The Tallest Man On Earth

K.I.T.
Amanda

Oh an P.S. head over to a grimm tale and check out this week's photo swap! So excited to have participated!

Step Into Christmas

The Christmas Spirit took its sweet time getting here this year. I am normally ready and raring to go around Halloween and so when yesterday I was still not "in the mood" I was a little concerned and frankly really sad. Loving Christmas is something that I cherish about myself. A long time ago I came up with list of "lame grown-up things I'll never do" and have tried hard to not become a "lame grown up". The list is as follows:

• Eat ice cream from anything other than a cone
• Lay on the beach/poolside all day instead of actually swimming
• Vote Republican (note: I had plenty of left leaning adults in my life... I don't know why Republican and adulthood seemed synonymous)
• Not be excited about Christmas

It's a pretty short list but I have to admit they're tricky rules to adhere to (minus the whole Republican thing). Every year Christmas seems to take up less and less space in my winter. Being employed instead of a student means that I have no magical winter break to bask in festivity and so Christmas now has to sandwiched between work, travel to, travel from, and more work. Nonetheless I think I've done a pretty good job of getting in touch with my holiday loving... at least up until now. These past few months I have been feeling frazzled, run down, and highly emotional; Christmas 2011 was really taking a back seat. Finally last night I think I turned it around. My roommate left the apartment for her volleyball game and I told her I would put up some decor while she was gone -- she had been begging me to decorate with her but my melancholy just kept getting in the way. A few hours after she was gone I was still sitting on the couch thinking about how much I did not want to move. Eventually I pulled myself up and got to work. After a few strands of garland were hung I was ready to put on some of my most favorite Christmas tunes and actually sing along. Spirits feel brighter and hope seems to be sprouting now that there's some festive decor surrounding me.

If you too are needing a little push in the "Joy to the World" direction then allow me to introduce Sir Elton as he welcomes you to join in a Christmas dancing frenzy...


P.S. I just found an AMAZING gift for my sister! It's been ordered and my fingers are crossed that it will arrive in time. Sister if you are reading this... get excited!

Rain? What rain?

Over the past week I have basically been listening to "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys on repeat but I had not seen the video until today. Delighted! Simply delighted! Enjoy please...



On another note, Seattle is pretty nasty today. I have to remind myself that when I feel nasty inside, like I do today, that there's a good chance the Pacific Northwest weather is tricking me into feeling sad and gross and so I must make a mighty attempt not to succumb. To combat today's rainy day blues I think I am just going to keep watching smile inducing videos, lead a group at the senior center, and hopefully eat nachos with a good friend. Fingers crossed that my plan does the trick!

K.I.T.,
Amanda

Lipstick Update

I went out Christmas Partying over the weekend. I decided to try out my newest shade in my arsenal of lipstick: Mac's Cremesheen in "Lickable" over Mac's Lip Pencil in "Magenta". Yeah, you heard correct "MAGENTA!". There's only one word to describe the result... WINNING!

The only thing more winning than my lipstick that night was probably Matt's (pictured above) Christmas party. Fact. Oh and the human pyramid that I orchestrated but that's for another time!

K.I.T.,
Amanda

P.S. Enjoy the offbeat Christmas tune provided for your listening pleasure...

Celebrate Monday!

So yesterday was Sunday but today is SUNday. See what I did there? Did you see it? Miracle of miracles! It is bright enough outside that I actually put forth the effort required to locate my sunglasses (i.e. digging through the mess on the floor of my car)!

Moving on from bad "puns"... As I've mentioned before I don't mind Mondays as much as most people do. In fact I find them pleasant as they are the one day in the work week that I am not held captive by my cubicle. Today's been particularly pleasure inducing and here's a brief list of why:

• I visited a client today who is 91 years old. She is the youngest of three children and both of her older siblings (ages 96 and 100) are still alive, kicking, and living down the block!
• In between client visits I got to hang out at The Ridgeback Cafe on 65th in Ballard. I had a delicious wrap with roasted yams, black beans, cheese (yikes!), peppers, and spinach (leafy greens for the day... CHECK!)

• My friend sent me a list of The 20 Best New Bands of 2011. Since I only know 5 of the bands listed I have some serious music listening to keep me busy for awhile.
• I am going to go on a quick jaunt around the neighborhood this evening in my new hot pink runners (I'm speaking Australian today)!
  
• The jaunt is going to be short because I'll be getting a workout at the Tractor Tavern where I will be square dancing the night away!

Leaving you with a video I'm loving of the Portland, OR band Typhoon. I'm a little bummed. They were just playing in Portland last week down the street from my friend's apartment. A friend who I am actually staying with a week from now. If only they could have scheduled around my overnight in PDX!


K.I.T. (no seriously, keep in touch... write a comment or something! pretty please?),
Amanda

An update: I had really better plan on cutting a rug tonight because my run lasted all of 10 minutes. I always forget that "sunshine" and "warmth" are not necessarily synonymous. My lungs are still burning and I am waiting for feeling to return to my finger tips. At least I got this picture?

Dance It Out

Last night I went to see the local band Pickwick for my second time. My first time was over the summer (for FREE!) at the Seattle Center as part of KEXP's Concerts at the Mural Series. I was immediately delighted by the soulful fun that is at the center of their music (not to mention the ridiculously talented lead singer's hair). And what's more... tambourines were HEAVILY featured in the show both on stage AND in the crowd. Clearly I was sold...



Obviously when the opportunity to see them at the Neptune came up I issued a resounding "Yes please" and purchased my ticket. I had not anticipated yesterday being as draining as it was and for a few hours, much to my roommate/fellow concert goer's dismay, it was a little iffy as to whether I would pull it together and make it to the show or not. Fortunately I got myself out of bed, took a shower, put on my favorite sequined skirt (hipsters be damned!), drank a beer, and was ready to "boogie down" (as the old folks say). And thank goodness I did! The concert was all kinds of fun, my friends delightful, the music sensational, the venue charming, and there were OODLES of bearded hipster dudes to feast my eyes upon.


I tried to take a video but unfortunately the sound recording quality on the ole' iPhone 3GS just isn't what it use to be and so it's a little scary to listen to. Luckily YouTube pulled through yet again and I can post a few videos to show my readers how great this Seattle band is!

Oh... Pickwick does a cappella? Of course they does...


If you are work while reading this I advise you not to watch if you are employed by an organization that frowns on workplace dancing (note: video quality improves after first few seconds)...



Happy Friday, December 9, 2011. Make it awesome and dance a little!