Brown Couch Fest 2008

Another fabulous Brown Couch at Binnslandia. I had to take two versions of the brown couch shot this year because Erin had to leave early.



This year was one of the biggest ever I'd say! And the big melt held off until we could get alot of sledding in on Death Mountain - even Hannah and Bo took a turn. I'll post more pics later, I promise!

Per Hillel's fabulous suggestion, I'm trying to put together photos from each year since the beginning of Brown Couch. If you have any pics, please email them to me.

265/365

265/365
Originally uploaded by heathre

From my 365 self-portrait today:

home

I've been thinking about the word home alot in the last 36 hours as I way make my way home - to one of my homes. My parents live in Michigan - I spent 22 years of my life between Otsego, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor. Now I call Portland home, but my parent's house is always home, especially for the holidays. I feel incredibly fortunate to have such amazing parents - as well as my 'chosen family' - who I get to see on Friday.

I'll be mostly offline for the next week or so - thanks to the parents' super-slow dial up. Happy Holidays to y'all - wherever you make your home.

And because this song has been stuck in a loop in my head for my entire trip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a96jhIWZHAs

homeward bound...

263/365
Originally uploaded by heathre

I took this picture yesterday in between pacing around my apartment and checking my flight status every two seconds. Very few planes made it out of PDX in the last 2-3 days but I hit the jackpot and got out last night around 1:30 am.

Of course, I missed my connection in Newark so now I'm on stand-by on a 3 pm flight to Grand Rapids. If I can't get on that flight, I'm most likely stuck in Newark overnight. I have a seat on a 6:30 flight to Detroit (which is a miracle in itself, thanks to the very nice continental agent in PDX). So I will make it home for Xmas!!

snow...

the long walk home
Originally uploaded by heathre

I have to admit, I'm not longer thrilled with the snow. I had a fun cozy weekend hanging out with Bruce but now, it's time for the snow to leave. The original forecast called for a big warm up Sunday afternoon or Monday morning, so I felt like my Monday night flight was safe. Now, we have 8+ inches of snow, with a layer of frozen rain thrown in. Most flights out of Portland were cancelled today and yesterday.

Fingers crossed my flight doesn't get cancelled. Several of my friends are very zen and resigned to sticking around Portland for Xmas - but I'm not. I would really really like to get home for Xmas and Brown Couch.

Snow Day!

It actually - for real - snowed in Portland yesterday. Less than an inch, but its sticking around. It is supposed to be below freezing all week - which is very rare for Portland. Portland State is closed today, so I'm "working" from home. And avoiding going outside, since it's 21 degrees. I'm a wussy west coaster now and can't handle those temps.

As usual, I've been horrible about updating the blog. I can barely keep up with my flickr shots everyday but I think I need to just start blogging from flickr (like I am right now) - there's a handy little link to make it super easy even for a slacker like me.

The last month has been busy busy. I had a great visit with the NYC posse. I spent 5 days with Carmen and family and then 4 days with Em and family. We also had Aaaron over to brunch at Emily's - which was a fabulous bonus. I got to spend a ton of great auntie time, a fabulous thanksgiving meal at Carmen's, some city time and a visit to the Whitney museum to see a great photo exhibit by William Eggleston.

The only downside was the wretched cold I brought back from NYC which knocked me out for about a week. Bruce took excellent care of me - made me food, brought me drugs and listened to my endless whining. And in the midst of that plague, Maralea, Sarah and I had our crafty debut at the Handmade NW Formal Artisans Fair. It went pretty well - we didn't sell as much as we had hoped, but it was an overall great experience. The fair was really well-run with lots of amazing vendors.

I'm finally feeling healthy again - now just trying to stay warm. My house is not meant to withstand the 'arctic storm' (or whatever the newspeople are calling it :)

A week from tomorrow I head to Michigan - can't wait to see everyone. Brown Couch is going to be HUGE this year!!

election night

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time: to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.

Barack Obama - November 4th, 2008

What an amazing night! We had a little election night party at Bruce's house. The menu was all-american - apple pie, mac 'n cheese, nachos, green bean casserole, and of course the champagne of beers - Miller High Life. After the big announcement at 8 pm, we broke out a bottle of champagne.

Dave strapped Barack on his back and took him out to the election night parties. He was very popular!

I'm hanging with Barack and Joe, having a camo Miller Light. Ahhh, America!

What an amazing night! We had a little election night party at Bruce's house. The menu was all-american - apple pie, mac 'n cheese, nachos, green bean casserole, and of course the champagne of beers - Miller High Life. After the big announcement at 8 pm, we broke out a bottle of champagne.

october is the best month

Not only because it's my birthday month but I just love the fall weather, the leaves, halloween. It was a particularly gorgeous October in Portland. *sigh*

Kim as the devil in a blue dress - scaring the life out of Pippi and Mr. Nilsson!

Pippi and Cobra Commander

Sarah as Joan from Mad Men - her costume was perfect. (this was taken at Bruce's friend's house in the retro-rama bathroom)

And last but not least...the pumpkins! The top one was carved by Dad and is jealously regarding my pumpkin, who was the big winner at Karen and Bob's 15th annual pumpkin carving contest.

Undecided voters...

Great quote from David Sedaris on undecided voters:

“I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."




This was my 365 shot (sporting my awesome "Caribous for Biden" shirt by Sarah) after the last debate.

i just saw this was posted on www.dooce.com too. i'm such a copycat!

35th Birthday Fun Festival!

First stop...
Originally uploaded by heathre

Nan is doing some great blogging on my fab birthday on her blog - but here's a pic from the first stop on our wine tour. Sokol Blosser in Dundee. Luckily, the rain stopped for a little bit so we could get a gorgeous wine country pic.

I had such a fun birthday - it was so amazing to have a bunch of my peeps here and we crammed in a lot of great stuff. With matching t-shirts!! woo hooo!!!!

More to come...

funnies...

I missed this on Saturday night but thanks to the joy of the internets, here it is...

I heart Tina Fey.

**ack, had to delete the vid because it kept crashing my computer at work**

countdown is on...

Time is just flying! My 35th birthday bash is in less than three weeks. I cannot wait to see everyone and have a weekend of decadent fun. My planning committee - Cora, Sarah and Bruce - are plotting and scheming away. Flights are booked for Nan, Chris, Carmen and Emily. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

As usual, I'm been remiss in the blogging. So busy busy busy!

Maggie and Melissa are in town, it's been great hanging out with them. Melissa flies home tomorrow but maggie is around for another week or so. Here's a great pic of them at Pix Patisserie

Tomorrow is Kim's wedding - which I'm ending up photographing. I'm a little nervous but luckily, Kim and Brad are both pretty laid back so I'm not freaking out about not getting 'the perfect shot'. Then right after the wedding and reception, Maggie and I are headed up to Mt. Hood to hang out with Sarah and her family Saturday night.

Me and Kim at her 'gettin' hitched' party

And of course, I'm still doing my 365 project - today is Day 162. Here's yesterday's shot - don't I look TOUGH??

And last but not least, I've agreed to do a craft fair/show with Maralea and Sarah before Xmas - ack! We sent in our application and will find out in a couple weeks if we got a spot. For now, we are starting to spread the word through Sarah's blog. We are calling ourselves "Make.Do.Collective"

Sarah found our fabulous logo:

Isn't it cute? We are doing screenprinted shirts, onesies and several varities of bags. I'm doing my simple totes and yoga bags and trying to convert some of my photos in to screen-printable items.

back to reality

Always hard to leave vacation paradise. Note to self: time to start buying powerball tickets again! I still have a ton of pics to go through from the wedding and the rest of my trip but I wanted to post a few more for all my loyal readers :)

"Aunty Header" and Charlotte

The Fujinakas!

Turtle Bay definitely lived up to its name. My last day there I saw at least five turtles in the little cove by Jenny and Brent's fab beach bungalow.

Of course, I had to include a shot of my hilarious miniature bathroom at the condo - don't I look giant??

another day in paradise!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Jenny had the biggest smile on her face all day. The ceremony was outside at Kulima Point at the Turtle Bay Resort. The reception was in the ballroom, which had amazing views of the water (and sufers!) I survived my toast (after almost tripping up the stage - I hadn't even had a drink yet!) and included a shout-out from the mainland ohana (family) that couldn't be there in person. The reception wrapped up around 3 and then I hit the beach with Kimberly, Erin and Sam. And we bumped in to Jenny and Brent who were on their way to go surf right after the wedding :)

It's been so nice staying up at Turtle Bay - I found a great little studio condo in the Turtle Bay complex - much cheaper than the hotel :) Jenny and Brent's beach bungalow is FABULOUS - it really is a gorgeous resort. Someday when I win powerball, I'm going back and staying in one of those :)

This picture is actually from our surf session this morning - it was SOOO much fun. Way better than surfing in waikiki! Really nice, decent sized waves, very few other people. I caught a couple waves and then accidentally caught a FAB wave with Jenny :) Tomorrow is my last day - I fly out on a redeye late Monday night. But I have all day to hang out with Jenny, Brent and Char, so that rocks.

Erin and Char had some bonding time today too :)

Sunset at Haliewa on the eve before the wedding

almost time...

Tomorrow is the big day! Yesterday was the rehearsal, which they held at the beach park by Jenny and Brent's favorite surf break (Toes). It was very chill and relaxed. Char will be walking (or running more likely) down the aisle with her little friend Elliot - they are SOOO cute together.

Then we all went out to dinner to a fab chinese buffet - ate way too much, of course. Then went out for drinks at the Moana Surfrider (fancy hotel in waikiki). It was a gorgeous night - almost full moon and so nice to relax with Jenny, Kimberly, Laura, Sam and Erin. Although there was a slight drama because they didn't have any pineapples to make my traditional pineapple drink (um, hello, it's hawaii - how can you run out of pineapples??) So I had to settle for a mai tai.

Hit the beach this morning with Kimberly; we are headed up to Turtle Bay in an hour or so. Here's me with Diamond Head in the background. I managed to NOT get sunburned this morning, pretty proud of myself :)

aloha!

The pre-wedding festivities are in full-force and I'm getting a TON of great auntie time in with ms. charlotte (who is killin' me with her cuteness and super-chattiness. she's talking up a storm and says things like 'oh my goodness' and 'auntie header!!!!!!'). Jenny and Brent worked Monday and Tuesday but then have the next week and half off, so I volunteered for Charlotte duty. Fun times :)

I must say both Jenny and Brent are very chill and handling all the pre-wedding stress fabulously. On Saturday night, their friends held a big poker tournament (serious stuff - they hold a tournament every month but this was a special one in honor of Jenny and Brent). I didn't play (too serious for me!!) but Jenny held her own and hung in for a long time - and Brent WON (we call him the BIG POKER CHAMPION now!) We were out until 2 am (Charlotte was staying with Grandma), lots of good food and fun times. Jenny had THREE beers and was hilarious :) And the guys kept trying to get Brent to do shots but he avoided most of them (I got a pic of one though!) - and then trounced the competition.

Sunday Jenny and I got up and went surfing (first time we have surfed together in 3 years!) So much fun, I didn't do great but we decided it was the board's fault (right jenny?? i had a broken skag on my rental board so that is why I didn't get any real waves, right?? :) It was a great time and then we hung out at the Diamondhead lookout and goofed around while I took my 365 shots.

Sunday afternoon was Jenny's bridal shower tea at Mariposa (Neimen Marcus). Very swanky and fabulous, hosted by Jenny's friend Gail. Unfortunately, that was right around the time I realized I managed to get quite a nasty sunburn from surfing in the AM. Not fun.

And then there's just been a ton of great times sitting around watching olympics, giggling madly with Jenny, playing with charlotte and not thinking about work stress at all :)