Call Your Girlfriend

So, I'm in Liz's wedding at the end of the summer. This will be my first time being a bridesmaid (I've been a groomslady but that's a little different) and you can't really be sure what to expect from this sort of thing. Thankfully the most intense request thus far is this: Learn this dance. Be prepared to reenact this video in unison with the bride and your fellow bridesmaids.



I practiced six times last night. It's really coming together.

Short List Day

Things I Will Never be Able to Accept

1. That my boyfriend doesn't derive the majority of his happiness from giving me backrubs

2. LOL, lol, Lol or any other version you can come up with

3. iphone users who can't resist walking around in public and using the headphone feature (Q: How is it different and less annoying than a bluetooth? A: It's not.)

4. Crocs

5. That I'm allergic to cats

6.The use of "natch" in lieu of "naturally" in print

Networking It

So, recently I decided I need to work on meeting new people. And in association with that: networking. It's in italics because networking has always been a really creepy thing to me, but it's also one of those necessary things in life, especially in a place like Portland which is such a tiny community. I mean, how do you do it? What do you even do? I associate it with "mingling" and handing your card to people, and making lots of unnecessary eye contact, and asking what someone does and then slowly sidling away when they're like, "Yeah, I'm an artist. But unemployed. But I do installations. In public spaces. When people aren't looking . . ."

But now that we're not in school anymore, and are busy, and have jobs, it's become a lot harder to meet new people. And I'm not the only person I know who would like to meet new people. So I decided to organize a happy hour that would allow all the cool girls I know in Portland to meet up and talk, and bring their friends, and we can settle on a plot for taking over the world and whatnot.

So, there it is. Today's happy hour will be at Maui's. There will be cool Portland women (like, not me, but actually cool people) and we will have drinks and talk about stuff, though considering it's Portland, we will probably focus on the  fact that it was sunny two days ago and how that was totally awesome and we'll talk about stuff we like to do when it's sunny out, and all the things we will do when it's sunny in the future. So, I hope to see all you ladies at Maui's at 530. Drinks. Food. Talk. Today! And just to add some extra incentive: Hologram Tupac is going to be there!

Not really. He's not. Because he's a dude. And a hologram. Though really, do holograms even have private parts? Does a hologram really have a classification? Either way, he's not actually going to be there but maybe next time. Because yes, if today doesn't suck (and why would it, really?), this will be an actual monthly thing. My goal is to plan next month's for a Thursday so Thursday lovers can attend.

Oh! And it needs a catchy name. Suggestions in the comments please.

Grimes

This video compounds so many wonderful things.
Football? Check. (I have been watching so much Friday Night Lights lately).
Bubblegum? Check.
Extreme stadium action? Check. (I prefer monster trucks but dirt bikes fit the bill.)
Girl with shaved head? Check.
Sequins? Check.
Living room dancing? Check, check, and check.

People I Saw at the Waterfront

The best thing about the weather getting nicer? There is a constant stream of activity in Waterfront Park. Public exercisers, public maker-outers, public tai chi enthusiasts (why do they have to do it in public? Is that part of the rules?), public lurkers, public karate kings, I see you. And I thank you. Especially these guys. What is it with awkward white guys and karate?

One of them said, "We should totally spar sometime."
The other said, "Okay."

Just Add Western

So, this post isn't groundbreaking or anything (apparently everyone I know goes there all the time), but Landmark Saloon! Have you been? We went last night for the first time and it was seriously like walking into a different world. The Landmark appears to be an old, unassuming house on the corner of 49th and Division, but you step inside and the interior is all warm wood, wool blankets and glow; men are wearing serious cowboy hats (not those frat boy ones you buy at Target), a live band was playing great country music, and few couples were spinning around in front of the band in a mellow country swing. Last night was Whiskey Wednesday (wonderful), which apparently is a weekly thing complete with live music and whiskey specials. They have an enormous patio in the backyard, a corn-hole area set up, and a food cart tucked away in the corner. I didn't have any food but it smelled amazing. We sat in the corner and talked about, I don't know what, spurs and cacti and shooting people in the back, until it was time to go home. I can't wait to go back once the weather is nicer and I can sit outside and pretend I'm on summer vacation. Speaking of summer vacation, Charissa is done with law school. What a journey. Congratulations!

Austerity April Update

The new name was Alexa's suggestion. I also like Frugapril. What do you think?

So, sometimes I accidentally set my phone on totally silent (usually it's on vibrate) and I don't notice because I never hear my missed calls anyway because my phone is down there in my bag not making enough noise to be heard, and then I do things like sleep in. My phone didn't wake me up this morning because it couldn't and I woke up at 8:24 in a bleary, jello-y, sleepy panic. Tony Vu was planning on swinging by at 8:45 and we were going to ride the Max together. Commuters. Serious commuters. And I had 20 minutes. Anyway, I usually take long showers, do some kind of workout or walk, eat breakfast, sip two cups of coffee, and linger over french textbooks, but today I jumped in the shower, was done in ten (with hair washed!), and was dressed and ready to go by the time Tony Vu appeared at my door. It's amazing how quickly I can get ready in the morning if I just rush.

The only problem was that I didn't actually have time to make myself a lunch and I had to buy lunch today. Austerity April fail. My only saving grace is that I didn't have to buy breakfast. Oatmeal packets in my desk. Crucial.

Valuable Lesson 2: Keep random food in your desk for unexpected occasions. If only I could keep freeze-dried turkey sandwiches in my desk that would just require a bit of water to pop out into soft-breaded, crisp lettuce glory.

TGIF

Oh man am I glad it's Friday. It has been a rough week. And I don't mean that in a light existential angsty it's in my head way (which sometimes happens), it's just actually been rough due to circumstances and events. But it's going to be a great weekend. And do you know why? Because look:

Newt in a t-shirt. Look at that little Ewok. I can say with certainty that I used to be anti- clothing on dogs, but you know what? People change. Putting a shirt on that dog made me happy. Inexplicably happy. It will definitely happen again.

People I saw at the Beach

Easter will never be the same.

Forgoing the usual ham and hard-boiled egg combo, Sam and I lashed our surfboards to the top of my car, stuffed my parents and their dog Newt in the backseat, and took off for Pacific City. It was a beautiful day. Sunshine. Good waves. First surf day of the year. Plus there was this lady sitting on driftwood, smoking her cigarette, flying her cheap drugstore kite. There was something oddly compelling about the passive disinterest across her face juxtaposed with the frantic jittering of the kite at the end of its string. We passed by her on our way to rinse off under the outdoor shower and then enjoy a beer on the patio in the last sunshine of the afternoon. Easter Surfday: a new tradition.

Saving April Update

First of all, Saving April is a horrible name. I probably should have spent some time thinking about it instead of just going for it, because I'm stuck with this name that reminds me of that Katie Holmes movie about her family visiting for Thanksgiving or something. I've never seen it but I'm assuming she's quirky and probably has an unnatural color in her hair and and doesn't cook, therefore hijinks ensue. I'm not even sure what the movie is called . . .. Wait, there you go: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311648/

I was right. Unnatural colors.

Bahahahaha. Here's a still:

Unnatural colors, bad cutoffs, and are those knee-length support hose? I can't tell. Her life is so bad she hangs out with trash bags while wearing a choker. Anyway, every time I think about saving and April, I am reminded of this movie. I mean, Katie Holmes is obviously a paragon of saving as she is a pants reuser. Inspiring or ultimately depressing?

The saving thing is going okay. The internet keeps reminding me that I could be spending my money in really great ways. LivingSocial has 10 bottles of white wine for me! Kaufmann Mercantile has handcrafted gardening tools that cost more than my shoes! All spring clothing is 50% off on Asos!

And then there's my lunch. This is going fine too, but right now I'm still kind of inspired.

Yesterday: Salad of spinach, avocado, an entire yellow pepper, and mozzarella shreds.
Today: Romain, mushrooms, celery, garbanzo beans, peas.

We'll see what the future will bring.

Also someone at work gave me a free set of Blazer tickets! So there's that.

Valuable Lesson 1: When you decide to stop spending money on frivolous things, someone will give them to you instead.

Saving April

I've been thinking about money a lot lately, mostly about saving it and the various frivolous ways I spend it, and in an effort to save more and spend less, I have committed to not buying anything online (clothing, shoes, etc.) for the month of April. Ugh. April will be remembered as The Month of the Saddest Mailbox.

But! That doesn't mean that you have to do that. Check out Delicate Doilies on Etsy. Emily and Shola (both great bloggers and fun people) have combined their thrifting (and modeling) skills to bring you vintage treasures on the regular (If that horse sweater is not a total treasure I don't know what is.)

And just to make April a little bit worse, I'm not going to buy lunch out for the rest of the month and have committed to packing a stupid gross lunch every day (I pack lunch all the time, but you know, eat out at least once a week, maybe twice). This is going to be tough. Moving the office downtown opened up my world to a whole plethora of carts, quick lunch places, and friends who also work downtown and want to eat lunch with me. There is nothing more depressing than being stuck with a weird salad with leftover roasted broccoli, bits of old lettuce, salami, and goat cheese, when you would prefer to go get some pho. And for the sake of honesty, The Month of the Sad Lunch Sack started yesterday because I definitely went out for tacos on Tuesday.

New Favorite

Oh man. Here's my new favorite band: Shannon and the Clams. Doo wop garage rock from Oakland. Swoon.

On Being Rude

I've been told that my neglect of the blog is rude. I hate to be rude and try on a pretty regular basis to be a not-rude person (nice is sometimes a stretch, but not-rude is achievable). So, with that in mind, I'd like to share Hot Chip's newest single "Flutes" from their upcoming album In Our Heads (June 12th!). Please don't watch if you get motion sickness. Just close you eyes, listen, and look forward to September 13th, when they finally show their faces in Portland after many years of neglect.