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!!