Daily Walks with Drake

Every morning I take Drake for a walk around the neighborhood before heading to work. Before we adopted him, I would wake up 15 (sometimes 5) minutes before I had to leave (after pushing snooze for 45 minutes), brush my teeth, attempt to get my bangs to lay flat, cover bags under my eyes, throw half wrinkled "business casual" clothes on and hop in the car.


Now that I'm a dog mom, I wake up earlier, take strolls around the neighborhood and get some fresh air before a day at the office. Morning walks have proven to be just as fulfilling for me as they are for him, but luckily it's early enough that most of the neighbors are still sleeping and don't notice what a train wreck I am in the mornings. Yesterday, we shuffled down 4 blocks before I realized my sweatpants were on backwards and my shoes were on the wrong feet. I'm probably mistaken for the neighborhood crack-head making her way home from last night's shenanigans.  


On our walks, I try to go down different streets and find new paths to keep our morning interesting and to see new things. I always find cute houses I've never seen, inspiration in pretty gardens, weird lawn accessories I don't understand and occasionally I'll run into something that truly is the unexpected. Something that makes me question what I'm seeing- If I'm really awake, or If maybe I am that neighborhood crack-head making her way home...


Behold, the life-sized rocking horse, saddle and all. 

Tell me this is not real. 

Show Me Your Shutta Shades

It's Peanut Butter Shutter Time

Window Before Operation Shutter Time

Window During Operation Shutter Time

The Shutter Scientist

The Assistant Shutter Scientist. (we pay him in belly rubs)

"Is it straight yet?"

Window after Operation Shutter Time.

Shutter Power

My Eye Sores Are Slowly Healing

Whoever owned this house before deserves a good bitch slap for being so color incompetent and pointing out ugly things on the house. LOOK HERE- IT'S AN ELECTRICAL BOX! LET'S PUT AN ACCENT COLOR ON IT SO IT REALLY POPS!They may as well have taken a highlighter and marked all the gutters and wires hanging from the front of the house. By the way, what is the normal amount of gutters a home has? I know it's Oregon and all, but we have more gutters than square footage to our house and I really wish someone would invent a sexier style of gutters-- and a new name for them because gutters sounds so unalluring.


I remember when we first looked at the house boyfriend said to the Realtor (who was on HGTV and will now be referred to as our famous Realtor) "it's not that i don't like the house, it's just so ugly. It's pretty much the ugliest house I've ever seen." I usually hear something like that and take it as a challenge, but I totally agreed with him. I was having a hard time focusing on the character of the house, because it completed lacked it-- and it's hard to focus on anything else when there is a painted green electrical box on the front of the house.


Our goal has been to refocus the attention on the house from the ugly spots to prettier things like flowers and shutters. We want to camouflage the unattractive but necessary parts of the pad and spice it up with a bit of lovely. 


I spent just over an hour painting the eyesores and I think it made a huge difference. Maybe?


Before:

Hi, ugly house!

I accidentally started painting the box a little bit before I took the picture. 

After:

that gutter got what it deserved too. 

Meanwhile, boyfriend was hacking away at the backyard aka future patio spot. That's a manly gold-star for you, stud-muffin!

The Best Thing About Me Is You

Last weekend boyfriend and I celebrated 2 years of being side by side. Like literally, inseparable for the last two years. I cannot imagine spending the last two years with anyone else. We so perfectly balance each other out and there is no one else in the world that knows how I like my coffee or what makes me tick the way he does. 

In the last two years we have traveled to new places, had some of the best food in our lives, been robbed, suffered injuries (mostly boyfriend), danced with each other until my toes turned blue, ran around dressed as trolls at drunken organized events, met new friends, faced fears, swam in oceans, lakes and rivers, bought a house, and fell in love with a puppy.

Here's to us and many more years together, side by side. 

Sit on it.

Now that the living room floors are complete (pictures to come soon), we are in search of a snazzy sofa. Luckily, boyfriend and I have the same style in mind, but we haven't found one that we both agree on. I have been doing some mad craigslist hunting for months, but have yet to find "the one." Since our living room is so small and narrow, it's important that we find the perfect butt hugger for our space. 

We're leaning towards the mid-century, sleek look. Here are a few affordable choices that tickle my fancy. 

Which one would you like to sit on?

(click to enlarge)

Summer Time Explosion

Summer wouldn't be summer without bike rides with boyfriend

...and fresh produce from the farmer's market

Drakes going to have bike riding lessons this weekend. I always imagined a little mini dog in a basket on the front of my yellow bike, but we got ourselves a big boy, so he'll need to learn to keep up. 

Plus, he's getting to the point where we can't exercise him enough, so running alongside our bikes is going to save us HOURS at the dog park. 

Sunny with a Chance of Heatstroke

100 DEGREES

It's going to be one of those double scoop with a side of chilled wine kind a days. 

Bring on the summer. 

Pretty Things

For the holiday, we headed down to southern Oregon and enjoyed some good ol' nature. We stayed in a  well equipped house on the Umpqua River with friends (our version of camping). 

On the way down, we stopped at Crater Lake, is that not the most beautiful body of water you've ever seen,  and went paddle boating on Diamond Lake. Drake is probably the worst paddle boat rider ever and I had to rescue him out of the water (twice).

Boyfriend started TWO fires and proclaimed his manliness. Note: We went through 2 bottles of lighter fluid in 3 days.

I (despite what anyone says) taught all the boys how to BBQ... and then I proclaimed my manliness. 

Happy Fourth of July Weekend

image from weheartit.com

I caught Florida on fire once. True story. When I was in 7th grade my mother was visiting my future step dad and left me and my brother with our older sister. We lived in Florida (think scorching uncontrollable Florida wildfires) at the time, but my sister came stocked with illegal fireworks from Missouri. We found an area that was getting cleared out for a future subdivision and headed there with our trashbag full of REAL fireworks, none of that sizzle and die baby stuff. We lit the first firework.

crack

boom

pop

The second firework..

crack

boom

pop

The third firework

crack

boom

"Where did it go?"

"Must be a dud."

Fourth Firework

and...

"OH MY GOD!! WE LIT THE FOREST ON FIRE!"

We did what any momless kids would do with a bag full of illegal fireworks. Hid the fireworks in the trunk, anonymously called the fire department and sat inside the house with the lights turned off as we watched the forest next to our house go up in flames.

Within minutes there was a fire marshall, angry neighbors and a heartbroken Smokey the Bear at our front door. "Only YOU can prevent...too late"

I would say I am more of a sparkler and POPS kinda girl these days.

Hope you have a safe and fire free celebration.

Come visit us!

Take that New York, California, and Florida. Portland was voted #1 best place to travel this summer.


If the article wasn't enough to convince you, here's some of my personal favorite things about Portland (not in any specific order)


1. The weirdest people on earth coming together to coexist. Then, all getting together on the last Thursday of every month for a celebration of music, art, electiveness and alternative lifestyles. I promise you'll see something new and outrageous every visit to Last Thursday on Alberta street.

Source

2. Our local brews. As an Oregonian and the sister of a brewer, I have no choice but to relish our beers. Oregon beers can be enjoyed and appreciated for their complex flavors, or chugged at one of our numerous beer festivals. Last weekend we put back a few at the Organic Brew Festival. A personal favorite this year was the Spruce ale (made with spruce trees!) and the Peach Hefeweizen. We also tried a bacon beer, a Strawberry Creme Ale and lots of other inebriation inducers.

3. Mountains, Beaches, and Deserts... Oregon has it all, suckers!

Source

4. FOOD CARTS! From buses serving grilled cheese to decked out trailers, it's just how good food rolls in Portland.

5. Portland is Pooch Friendly. There are over 40 off leash dog parks in this city. One being a couple blocks from our house. Drake couldn't be more spoiled. 

BE JEALOUS! 

I hope this increases our property value.