Flashback Friday: I miss College

I'm headed to San Diego for the weekend to visit with a few of these lovely faces. My ladies from College. I seriously miss living with them some days. There was always someones room to visit, or a Lifetime movie to keep us from our homework. We could walk to the bar and we partied on week nights...I don't even know what that is like anymore. We were definitely Cougs.

Now a few of us are married, and even have kids. Just think in 15 more years, we really will be Cougars. I'm looking forward to some good ol' fashioned beer bonging. Oh I'm kidding, we never did that ;) Plus I gave up wheat...damn!

Sadly I couldn't find any embarrassing photos of us. I'll save me blowing up latex items on my head for another day. My Mother is so disappointed. Oh College...I miss you.

See last years trip to San Diego HERE.

Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

t-t-t-Tango

This might sound strange, but whenever I think of intense passionate love (of course I'm speaking of my own), I picture the tango. Now Bryan and I have never danced the tango. He can not make eye contact when he dances. Once we took a dance class at the local Senior Center...it was his punishment...and he could not look me in the eye because he was concentrating so hard. We did fox trot, swing and salsa...but no tango.

I think the tango is so expressive. It is very sensual and strong. If I had to express to someone how I feel about love, I would tango. Perhaps I'll take a class. My favorite movie tangos, which are not classic tangos but get me all riled up are these:

I mean, in case you were ever wondering.

Obviously a huge Fosse fan, The Cellblock Tango from Chicago




El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge



Anway...yep the tango, so where was I?

Last Friday I went to see the Mark Morris Dance Group at The Paramount with my Mother in law Kathy and my Mom. The show was so so. Sometimes I am not a big contemporary dance lover. It depends on how abstract the piece is. The music however was fantastic (The Seattle Symphony) as was the dinner we had at Tango.

Cheers for Sangria

"Cheap dates"

Croquetas de Papas

Grilled Tuna

Penn Cove Mejillones

Moqueca de Piexe

The famous El Diablo for dessert. SO GOOD!

It was very similar to Toro Bravo in Portland, but we'll definitely go back!

Mom! The meatloaf!!!!

My goodness I'm so far behind in food and friends posts lately I might have to start posting on the weekends. Last week, before photobucket (I really need a new photo site) decided to mess with me, I went to my friend Shannon's for dinner. Remember now, Shannon has little Sienna the Wonder Pup who is in that goofy growing too fast for her own coordination stage. Love it.

Oh hai...I remember you.

Not such a peanut anymore. And definitely female..in case you had your doubts

Do you think L'Oreal has a box # for that color?

Friends

And one on the left that could use a hefty does of makeup

Lauren's deviled eggs. Sienna approved.

Shannon's meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

She was actually dressed as Mickey Mouse earlier...

forgot to take off the hands.

Tired pup

I subjected everyone to gluten-free, dairy free cupcakes from Elana's Pantry

Seriously you have to try them. I love every recipe!



The food critic says...delightful!

I'm bored with you now. That will be all, please leave.

Babies and margaritas

Its like cause and effect. Maybe more like, which came first? Well either way, they pair well don't you think?

Saturday we took a break from our floors and went to a friends house for Mexican food and game night. I won! It was a good time had by all. The best part was there were lots of kids to attempt to take photos of. The worst part, they never stopped moving.

Jordan

Sidney

Victoria

Give me a kiss

Now give me your Buzz Lightyear

Remember sit n' spins? They were awesome!

Fluffy's turn

Victoria takes it all in

Okay, look at the camera

Jodi and Jordan

Tamales and black bean salad

Staring at her cousin

Looking anywhere but my camera

Monkey see, monkey do

Thanks again for having us Jodi!

Tomorrow? Another source of unmanageable entertainment. Puppies!

Please buy our house...I can't take it anymore

It was another working weekend. We, and when I say we I mean Bryan, ripped out the carpet in all the bedrooms and continued our crappy Ikea flooring through out the rest of the house. I made sure the dogs were exercised, Bryan was fed and painted baseboards and moulding. I hope you had more fun ;) To memorialize his hard work in blogland I'm posting the photos. Please know that I have not decorated any of these rooms. Hell I haven't even decorated the rest of the house. Oh well.


This is the only picture I could find of what our carpet looked like:

The machine, hard at work. He can swear in Swedish now.

Issy wanted to hang out under the baseboards WHILE I was painting them. This is why I'm scared to have kids. I'd even say she is the smart one. The little neurotic one (not me) spent his day staring at wetspots on the subfloor waiting for them to move.

Goodbye brown carpet. The random furniture room.

Guest room

Master bedroom before:

4 years ago. Looks like a college dorm room.

Less than a year ago...

Yesterday

It's all a work in progress, but I guess it always is. I did do some fun things too....coming soon!

Flashdance Friday: All she wants to do is dance

This is my very first dance class. I was like Alex Owens except I had opportunity and no talent. And without the welding...and stripping I guess. Okay so I wasn't really like Alex after all.

But these little girls are AMAZING dancers, and they most definitely have a future as strippers. Who knows, a few of them might be able to weld too. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot of my sex appeal in dance class, but I was at least twice their age.

What do you think?

Uncertainty

Photobucket is being difficult tonight. Mostly because it is late and they're doing maintenance. I'm taking it personal. You were going to get lots of cute puppy pictures and a dinner with friends, but instead you get a little piece of my uncertainty. Lucky you.

I am a pretty happy person and I rarely have bad days. I have bad moments instead. I will be out walking the dogs and feeling great, thinking about what I need to do, what I'd like to do, listening to music on my iPod and then my low will hit. I'll think about something awful and want to give up. I know I'm a sensitive music person. There are certain songs I can't listen to with anyone else because they trigger memories or emotions, but I'm not sure what it is on days like these. Maybe I'm not alone enough with my thoughts and when I am, they all come rushing. I feel like May Boatwright in The Secret Life of Bees. Feeling too much and it is overwhelming. I don't even know how to sort these emotions, instead they crash into each other until I give up on them all together. Yes I know there are pills for that ;)

I'm torn, I'm uncertain, about everything. I'm amazed sometimes I am able to move forward in life. I feel like I am not completing anything and everything is moving so slow. At the same time things are moving too fast. I'm stuck in the middle about to make a big leap and am scared by uncertainty. Instead of facing things I'd rather sit and stare. I know we can't know the future, and can only weigh the outcome of the decisions we make, but I'd like a little more reassurance sometimes. A glimpse perhaps to build my confidence. Am I being too vague?

For example, we are considering putting our house on the market this year. I'm scared to leave what we know, to venture into the unknown. I'm excited too, but it gives me anxiety. What if the situation is better? But what if its worse? We don't have a solid plan on what happens once the house is no longer ours. We'll be in limbo. I'm trying to psyche myself up for what is next, because it is what I want, and that's why we're doing it. I'm blessed to have a Husband willing to chase my dreams with me, but why do I feel so uncertain? Why can't I throw caution to the wind and call it an adventure. Do all risks have to be calculated? My head hurts.

I feel lucky to to have the ability to make these kinds of decisions whether they work out or not. At the same time I'm angry on how unmotivated I am. I do this a lot, avoidance. Not making a decision until it is too late and the decision was made for me in the interim. The feeling and thoughts are so much I'm numb and can't even crack the surface to dip in and handle them. Instead they collect. I don't want to be that way anymore. I've wasted too much time. I want to be in control. How do I do that?


Um...so this post was supposed to be about my new eating plan. Out the window...sorry about that. Thanks for listening.

No one's gonna love you more than I do

It's inevitable. Every night after the dishes are put away Bryan looks deep into my eyes asks me the same sweet little question, "have you seen my keys?" Every. Single. Night. Sometimes it is the van keys, sometimes the truck keys. Drives me nuts because how the heck should i know where his keys are? I don't drive those vehicles.

A few weeks ago after he had a late night at work, I found his keys.

Here they are...

In the fridge

I think I'd like to change my wedding dance song to this one. It suits us better.

Build your dream home

Mandy from Philip.Mandy.Bennett tagged me in a fun "build your dream home" tag/post. I love this because I have files and files of bedrooms,bathrooms, windows even shelves for my future home. The problem is, I opened a flickr account to clean up the images on my computer and I can't remember the password. I'm also one of those people who lies about their personal info when signing up for things, so I will definitely never get them back. With what is left on my hard drive I give you my dream house.

I would define my style as "beachy glamour meets JCrew". What? That's a style. And when I say style I mean my future style because my house looks nothing like this. Bear with me, I'm still fine tuning.

In case you don't make it to the end of this post...I tag

Eric of Bored Neoclassical Guy
Maya of Completely Coastal
Chelsea of In a Yellow House
Monique of Es La Verdad

Play along if you'd like!


disclaimer: I gave credit where I knew, but most images are from my "I'm bored at work" file circa 2007.

My Dream House:

William Howard Thompson House via Country Living

or I could go for these too...

I'm a sucker for cedar shake houses, although I'll never have one.

My Husband says so.

My dream car. Well how do you expect me to get to my dream house?

Entry way #1

Love the detailed railing




Entry #2
Want the grey door and the dog. Okay not the dog

Where the magic happens. It's the kitchen not the bedroom right?

Can't live without subway tiles

This kitchen window makes me happy to wash dishes

Panelled ceiling

Walnut and white

Living space

exposed wood ceilings

Sitting room via Black Eiffel

Sofia Coppola's living room via Her Little Place

Art deco fireplace

Indoor outdoor sitting room

Sunny laundry room

My office

And if I'm in the attic

My bedroom

Can I have two?

A peek into my...Kate Spade's bathroom

My closet

Well heck if this is a dream house...

Guest room

Another guest room. Please remove your shoes!

Kids rooms

Can you tell I'm only having girls?

via Caitlin Creer Interior

I want to wallpaper a ceiling!

Step into my garden:

I was big into The Secret Garden as a child

I've always wanted one of these tree fences.

If I can't train dogs, maybe I can train a tree!

Ah, a girl can dream... Thanks Mandy!