Laziest of weekends.

This weekend was amazing. I literally had zero plans. Well, that’s a lie. I had a few plans on Sunday, but mostly I was totally free to do what I wanted!

I did laundry and watched Netflix on Friday. I know it sounds lame, but it was completely therapeutic.

On Saturday I went to Zumba, grabbed coffee and effectively spent the afternoon at my parent’s golf club pool. It is official; someday I will lead a dance on the stage at Zumba class. I have to. It is now a goal. If only I had the guts. Oh, and I will also have a rockin’ mom bod like all of the ladies at the pool. Psych! I haven’t had kids and they look way better than me. So… I guess I’ll let that one go.

Sunday I made it to the blogger meet-up! Barely. I was literally there for 30min of the 3 hour event. I am the worst. All of the PDX bloggers who helped did a really great job putting it all together! Snaps to Jenni for taking on the planning of these events! I started thinking about it as I talked to Sam. I have met both her and Jenni in real life ONE TIME! Yet we greeted each other like we are old friends. Why? Well, we read each others blogs! Shouldn't it be weird? Somehow it isn't.

I am not very good at the blog meet-ups… due to not being a serious blogger and being as awkward as I am. I like blogging, I just don’t have very many readers. So when I go to stuff like this I sorta feel like a wannabe. But you know what!? That is just lame and insecure and I didn’t start this blog to feel validated by strangers. So whatevs.

Check out the cute party favor and the earrings I won from the meet-up!

Notebook by Jenni and earrings by Dijana Designs

Oh, and am I the only one who benefited from the outrageously awesome line-up ABC Family had going this weekend? Not that I watched TV all weekend… but Stepmom, My Best Friends Wedding, The Notebook… just to name a few! Their programming was dominating my TV.

Hope your weekends were fab!

Mishmash Moments: Summer addition.

It has been a while since I have done a mishmash post. It is time!!

In no particular order of importance:

The Mish:
The Fab5!!! U.S.A U.S.A U.S.A!!! (If you didn’t mentally fist pump and chant that… let me know so I can promptly stop being your friend.) I am beyond excited that our girls are taking home the gold. I am glad we only have a few more rounds of staying up for gymnastics though, my body is thoroughly sleep deprived from staying up to watch the prime time. Yes, I tracked it live, but NBC puts together those cute packages about the athletes! I can’t get enough.

I watched in true fan fashion. I mean that literally. Check the scrunchie below. Gotta suit up in solidarity!

This is my actual competition scrunchie. I know it is weird that I have it, but I use it when I straighten my hair. The soft velvet doesn't leave a dent!

Anyway, that is all I will post about gymnastics. If our girls win a ton of individual medals, I will try and refrain from boring you to death with continued excitement. Just know that I am totally stoked.

The Mash:
This past week I had to say goodbye to another friend. Seriously. I am going to have to join an online friendship site if my friends keep moving away. Does desperate_for_friends.com exist? Ms. Martha is headed to San Diego for a new adventure and I am excited to hear about her exciting experiences… even though we are all a little bit bitter.

Anyway, there were multiple going away bashes. 1.) Brewfest (which I missed out on) and 2.) A chill-sesh at The Goose.

Oregon Brewfest

Fun with friends

The Moments:
On Saturday I had the opportunity to go to the beautiful wedding of Eric and Lisa at the Lewis River Golf Club. Seriously. It was a fantastic wedding. The sermon was one of the best I have ever heard at a wedding. He talked about how in Genesis the word 'helper' is used, which has become slightly derogatory in English. When really the Hebrew word is more like partner, in a way that means necessary for existence. So beautiful! What a picture of marriage and how it means to live and love. As necessary entities in each others lives.

Here is the happy couple!

Cutting the cake

And some fun time spent with friends:

Sara was in town for the occasion and we showed up in matching outfits! 

Amanda was toasting like Phoebe. Duh. [photo courtesy of Cayly's F-book]

I will send you off with a picture that most definitely would have made it into this post. Yep, that is me. Dancing with my cake.

True love. Who needs a man when you can dance with chocolate cake?

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USA! USA! Going for the gold.

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!! Well, I love the Summer Olympics. We all know that the Winter Olympics is just the equivalent of a less popular, slightly uglier step-sibling.

In all seriousness, I adore the splendor and pageantry of the Olympics. I was a little worried this year because I thought I would be in Nicaragua and miss the gymnastics. BUT I am only going to miss the lame stuff (like track). I will get to see the gymnastics, which is the most important part! Duh. I also really like the swimming. Particularly men’s swimming. Especially the relays. Why you ask? Well, lots of attractive men all in one race? I’ll take it! Can we talk about how good looking Ryan Lochte is? Then can we discuss how badly he dresses and how lame his grill is? If only he had a great NW girl in his life…

History lesson: I quit competitive gymnastics when I was a sophomore in high school. Not to mention, I am 5’8”… not exactly gymnastics conducive. Let’s just say, bars was NOT my strongest event. I was really not a good gymnast, but I loved it (mainly floor and beam), had a blast and made great friends. I wouldn’t trade those years in the gym for anything. Thinking about it now, I specifically wouldn’t trade the summers. We would spend 4 hours together at practice, followed up by 4 more hours together playing and laying at the pool. When you group both hard work and fun together, especially at a young age, the rewards are invaluable. Those summers contain some of my fondest memories.

Enough about me and my non-good at gymnastics past, back to the Olympics:

Let’s note the level of gymnastics these girls are doing. Height and skills that I can’t even comprehend! I think standing back-tucks are hard (I’m tall. Give me a break). How about a perfect standing full on beam? Yeah. Beam. And that isn’t even near the most difficult skills we are seeing.

Gabby Jo is my mom's favorite. Mostly because her middle name is Jo. Priorities. 

I could talk gymnastics all day, but instead how about a more universal topic? Hair.

One thing you are allowed to trash is gymnastics hair. When we were kids we were not allowed to compete with messy buns. (Think late 90s/ early 00s when the messy bun was in the height of popularity). We of course fought back, but I will say, my ability to make a good slicked back ponytail came in handy when I was a cheerleader. Sometimes I even see lingering signs of “good hair ladies” coming through as a cheer coach. This was a blanket comment that we heard growing up from our gymnastics coaches.

Go ahead and make fun of the clips and the glitter. But it is something that has been around for a long time. And to tell you the truth, I would be a little bit disappointed to see it go. Final note: Marta Karolyi should take a call from the head coach of Mac Gymnastics. Meg could teach her a thing or two about encouraging her athletes to have “good hair.”

PS. You have no idea how obsessed my sister and I were with the magnificent seven. It was ridiculousness. I hope we will get to be equally obsessed with this team of five! 

I loved Dominique Dawes and hated Kerri Strug. I also LOVED Shannon Miller's bangs...and copied them. I was a special child.  

Alright friends, that is all from me for today. What is your favorite Olympic event? 

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Quinoa Summer Salad

This is an adapted recipe from Sandra Lee. She is the chick from Semi-Homemade. I was surprised to like one of her recipes because during her show they always seem kinda whacked. One thing about her show that cracks me up is how booze crazy she is. Think about it. "Now that we are done with the child birthday party prep, we can start on the treats for the grow-ups! *wink*" (as she pulls out a half-gal of liquor). 

I personally wouldn’t want to send my (hypothetical) kid to the "children’s parties" she is throwing. It would go like this: "Guess what mom!? The lady had so many grown-up treats that she knocked over the tablescape and passed out! Then we played in the bouncy castle unsupervised! It was awesome!"

She is on the same level as Giada for me. Sorry Everyday Italian, but I didn’t order a side of cleavage with my meal. Oh, and it’s pronounced pro-shoot-o. You are in America now.

Okay, enough rambling. On to the recipe!

Recipe:
1 cup of quinoa
- cook in 2 cups of water (or chicken stock, but water is less calories obv.)

Let cool completely before tossing it with the other ingredients.

Prep all of the veggies and toss them in a bowl together. (See above. Can you handle it?)

1 english cucumber (chopped)
¼ cup roasted peppers (chopped)
¼ cup red onion (finely chopped)
½ cup grape tomatoes (halved)
½ cup crumbled feta
1 tablespoon fines herbs
Balsamic dressing (to taste)

Add cooled quinoa to the veggie mixture. Toss in, feta and herbs. Add a little bit of dressing last and you are done!

You can take shortcuts wherever you want. I roasted my own peppers (because I had some on hand), and my mom makes her own dressing. But you can buy things already prepared if you want! Once it is all mixed together it will all turn out pretty much the same.

From Obsessed to Obsauced.

Sometimes my friends create new words. It isn't that weird. I feel like this is the case in many people’s lives. I instantly think of Happy Endings and how the character of Penny says ah-mah-zing. Her friends initially made fun of her before accepting it as hilarious and as unique to the quirkiness of Penny.

This type of scenario happens in my life on a fairly regular basis. Whether it is an unflattering nickname that sticks (poor Chubs), or a mispronunciation that will be said forever at that persons expense, there are words that are unique to my group of friends. But unlike Happy Endings, we will all start saying it around one another as a joke… until we say it in front of a stranger who blankly stares. Believe me, when someone calls Chelsii “Chubs” in public, strangers take notice.

The other night my friend Marina said she was obsauced with a nail color. I know this word came up later and somehow transitioned into the word obsoissed.

Yesterday an email chain discussion began about the merits of the two word hybrids.

Email from Martha:

Obsauced is literally 42 times better.

Here's why: It combines two words that actually are awesome.

Sauce: Which, if we're talking BBQ is delicious! If we're talking chocolate? Also delicious. I can't think of many sauces that aren't delicious. Sauce.

Obsessed: A word I say almost as much as I say “literally.”

I am literally obsessed with the word obsessed. When I say literally, what I'm saying may not be LITERAL. But I am still, literally obsessed. Literally. Obsessed.

If I may quote an email I received from Marina earlier this week, I can relate to the word obsauced "both metaphorically and over arching, as well as literally".  

Consensus is thus: Obsoissed is out. Obsauced is in. Thank you Martha for the detailed reasoning.

Yes. These are the people I choose to spend my time with… don’t judge. I wanted to post about this simply to share what my life (in terms of email and intellectual reasoning) is like. I hope you enjoyed!

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Ellen’s Dance Dare: Portland Edition

Hi everyone. First I will say that today is my birthday. Yes, I am 25 years old and I had the BEST weekend celebrating. There were some gatherings, great brunch (review to follow), Easter, the Masters… the list goes on and on. Can you believe I got super into the Masters this year? I haven’t like golf this much since before Tiger was outed as a perv.

One of my weekend highlights was a lovely walk on the waterfront Saturday afternoon. Not only was it beautiful out, but Marina and I decided to take the opportunity to film for our Ellen’s Dance Dare Challenge video. You may be asking yourself “What is the Dance Dare Challenge?” Well my friend, it is a HIGH-LARIOUS challenge Ellen has presented to her viewers. Clicky click to learn more.

Marina and I have been discussing doing this for a while and this weekend the perfect opportunity was thrown at us as we were walking on the waterfront. I then took the liberty to do some editing, added some musica… and voila!

Here is the final product, as well as some photos of the day. Enjoy!

I hope you all had happy Easters!

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

And I'm not talking about Spencer Tracy.

I hope you are all well. I certainly am. Why you ask? I am doing great because I am not living in the early 1960s in a life filled with booze, infidelity, drama and advertising.

Yes, you guessed it. I have been watching Mad Men. I love it! I just do. It is nasty and dramatic, but it is impossible to not root for these characters. No matter how awful they are, the writers somehow draw you in enough to care about them regardless of their flaws. Did you all like the premier of the new season? I haven’t watched it yet and have successfully avoided the reviews. It is a miracle!

Fun fact:
Apparently Adrian Grenier (Drive Me Crazy... fine... and Entourage) is joining some Portland brewers to make flat top style beer cans. You know, the kind you need to open with a can opener ala Don Draper. Pretty hilarious. I understand that it is hipster cool, but it is also a lot more effort just to open your beer! Haha!

A quote from a different article is what cracked me up the most:
“Drinking Beer from flat top cans will be this year’s having a mustache for ironic retro cool.”

I can’t wait. This is going to be fun! Especially if the nasty trendiness of the mustache is on its way out the door.

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The Oscars: Annoying or not?

I know I am a bit late on the reviews of the Academy Awards. So rather than doing a best and worst dressed, I decided to do a most annoying vs. least annoying. Honestly, I really enjoyed the fashions and everyone looked amazing. Especially the people I find most annoying… which of course makes it worse.

Not annoying:

Michelle Williams was so sweet in her interviews.  I loved how honored she was by the compliments she received from Kate Winslet. Plus she took Her BFF, Busy Phillips, as her date.

Viola Davis also wins the not annoying award. She was humble about her performance in The Help and she always turns interviews back to the project and the meaning of the story.

Majorly annoying:

Angelina Jolie is so freak-yeah annoying. Her dress was really pretty... blah blah… but she ruined it with her stupid posing.

The second annoying award goes to Stacy Keibler. She is so temporary! I hate how pimpin’ she thinks she is. She is clearly a disposable girlfriend for George Clooney. Her attitude makes her look like a stupid little girl. 

I hope you all enjoyed the show as much as I did. I was already on vacation and the Oscars made it even better! Vaca updates coming soon!


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Recap of the Golden Globes. PS. Madonna isn't British

Golden Globe Awards, Emmy awards, Academy Awards, SAG awards… Oh My! (okay, that doesn’t really flow… whatevs.)

I am sure you all tuned in to the Golden Globes last night! I LOVE awards season. I just love it! It is so fun to see our favorite celebrities dressed to the nines, getting recognized for their hard work, all while being forced to do interviews about their personal lives.

“Who are you wearing?” is my second favorite question. My favorite is “Who are you dating?!” Haha!

The Golden Globes is my favorite of the awards shows. It is a real party! They are at tables socializing, drinking and all together having a good time among their colleagues. At other shows they are just seated. Clearly lacking in forced socialization and fun. Plus, the Globes are casual enough that it can be funny! The Oscars are so serious! I love them too, but there simply isn’t the lightness that comes through like there is during the Globes. I also enjoy that it is both TV and film. It is nice to have it all in one shebang.

How much did you enjoy Ricky Gervais!? He was hilar like usual. I was annoyed by Madonna though. Just take the joke Madonna, don’t fire back with your fake accent and strangely toned man-lady arms.

My best dressed vote goes to Claire Danes. I know it is annoying that I chose the winner of the night as my best dressed… but did you see the back of her dress!? This photo does not do it justice. It was all metallicy and shimmery. I also really liked Charlize Theron, but her dress just didn’t seem out there enough.

My worst dressed vote goes to Amanda Peet. Shower curtain from anthro as a dress with eighth grade eyeliner and hoop earrings. Not to mention, strappy sandals from BP that she wore to winter formal...

I hope you all enjoyed the show as much as I did!

Strictly Local: Coffee, Hipsters, Cycling and Recycling.

Portlandia has become a national hit. But for us Portlanders there is an extra special place in our hearts for this show. Yes, some of the scenarios are a little out there, but others are spot on!

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein

One thing about the show that I love, is the way it has opened my eyes to little cultural things about Portland. Things that I didn't believe to be unique from other places.

For example, I didn’t realize that the way we emphasize shopping local, eating local and where things come from was distinctly Portland. Of course I favor a restaurant that lists where the meat they serve is from (preferably a local farm). Pork from Carlton Farms? Why, that sounds lovely. Carlton is just 40min away! I know it is fresh and that I am supporting local. I really had no clue that this wasn’t a universal idea. I am referencing the first episode ever. Our emphasis on local was significant enough that it made the first episode!

Also, I recently read a column in Entertainment Weekly about Portlandia. Fred Armisen mentioned that he wanted to do an episode about how we put fried eggs on everything!  Who doesn’t like fried eggs? It makes everything amazing and he agrees. Think of your favorite savory meal. Now think about that same meal with a fried egg on top. That meal just went to a whole other level of awesome! Don’t believe me? Go try Wilbur’s Jumbo Deluxe Burger (bacon, Tillamook cheddar and a fried egg) from McMenamins. Don’t worry guys, McMenamins is local. And so is Tillamook for that matter. Double whammy!

That is all I have to say. Portlandia is hilarious. I will be watching the next episode with a Moscow Mule. Yes, it is a specialty cocktail that contains purred ginger. Major call out to me during last week’s episode.

Raise the roof for baby Mason/ other things.

Remember when I said I wanted to see wedding footage? Well, I was disappointed. I saw the exact same things as the pictures in the weekly mags… bummer. Due to the disappointment that accompanied my viewing, this will be a short post.

The lamest/ most ridiculous part was the awkwardly placed add for Living Social. I assume their honeymoon was comped by Living Social or something. It was a scene where Kris and Bruce are talking and Kris randomly brings up one of the younger girls and her attempt to go on a vaca (including how she found great deals on Living Social). Lame and obvious product placement. That moment combined with the limited coverage of the actual wedding ruined the episode for me.

Best parts:

1. Baby Mason (All the time)

2. The way they honored Robert K. SR.

3. Lamar in Vegas

4. Kourtney being hilarious w/ her one-liners

Real life more important. I am headed out of town this weekend! And for the first time ever, I plan on choosing outfits to pack rather than over pack with a multitude of options “just in case.” We’ll see how it goes! The planning begins tonight.

Hasta! 

Rob just wants his Taco Bell!

I hope you guys watched the Kardashian wedding special. It was a good one! Can’t wait for the second episode (don’t ruin it though; I will need to catch a re-run due to Monday night activities). I care more about the actual wedding than the drama leading up. If they don’t spend a significant amount of time covering the actual event I will be uber-annoyed. Dresses, cake, flowers oh my! Bring it on!

That stupid head thing. Bleh.

Back to last night’s episode:

Kris H is intense. Although, it is kind of refreshing to see a man stand up for himself in that family of crazy people. Yet, he continues to prove that he is in over his head. Lamar is my favorite (duh). I love that the producers found it necessary to keep the line “Just dropped the Cosby kids off at the super bowl.” Not at all vital to the story line, but a much needed comic relief from Lamar after his wife got all drama city on Kris H. Can we also review that Khloe was calling him “Hump” as a nickname! So wrong. AND it was at a serious part where she was all drama about his intentions etc. Weird.

I also could not get over the fact that they kept dubbing over Taco Bell with “Tacos.” That could have been an awesome promotion for good ole T-Bell. Maybe Rob can be their new spokesperson. I know he was struggling to find direction in his life… and ended up on Dancing with the Stars. Anywho, can you believe Rob and Scott ate all of that!? I would be ill for days. All of a sudden I like Scott?... how did this happen!?

Fact 1: I do not know these people.

Fact 2: It is absurd that I am blogging about them, as if it matters.

Fact 3: This does not matter. But it sure is fun to watch!

Coming soon: Brunch review from yesterday.

Later! 

Uhhh... An apple a day?

I really have nothing to share right now. I am not in the mood to blog because I have a nasty cold. Like the may-hor snot kind. I rarely get sick and was even bragging to my co-workers about how I never get sick! So… I probably shouldn’t have done that. Whatever. At least it is just a cold and not the real kind of sick. My office is currently contaminated with illness (about half of us are sick) and we are taking it seriously. Check it:

I am currently enjoying Tropical flavor mixed with OJ.

Oh, did you want to hang out tonight? Can’t. I am busy watching TV and slamming back Emergen-C.

Don’t feel too bad for me! Tonight’s broadcast has a lot to offer. We have Glee and New Girl! Booya! If you have not yet had the chance to see New Girl, I highly recommend it. ‘Tis Hilar. 

PS. Fact: Emergen-C tastes better when consumed from a mug. 

Hanging out in the 21st century.

So last night a few of my people decided that it was important to spend some quality time. I completely agreed and we made plans to meet up and hang out. You may be thinking that we went to Happy Hour or met at someone’s house to watch Modern Family. Instead we met up on Google+ for a hangout. Libby and I were on our couch, Cameron was in her living room in Seattle and Marina was in her kitchen (note: Marina lives a block away from Lib and me). We needed some quality time. The original plan was to watch Modern Family together, but after we covered the important topics we realized that it wasn't necessary.

Photo taken by Martha (who was at Mar's during the call)

Basically we are living like Zenon: Girl of the 21st century. If you don’t know what this is, you clearly did not watch Disney Channel original movies ala the late 90s. My faves are Zenon, Brink and Johnny Tsunami. I can’t help but be reminded of Zenon as I face time with my friends or hang out on Google+. Zetus Lapetus! It is so Nebula and Zenon of us!

Okay, enough crazy from me. I love that I get to see my friends when they are far away and that we can make plans to watch shows together. I will be utilizing this much more. When I need outfit approval, or if I start to feel lonely. Ahhh technology. 

"You're not going to Space Camp but at least you've got those remote control trucks and your confidence."- Kirk Fogg

(Kirk Fogg was the host of Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Over the Christmas holiday I was given the first season of Boy Meets World on DVD. Oh.Emm.Gee. I am telling you right now, that poo is hilarious. No wonder we loved it! Cory+Topanga=LOVE. It takes me back to those evenings of TGIF. What a line up! The 90s were the best! Boy Meets World, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Full House, Step by Step, Dinosaurs etc. Are you freaking kidding me!? Now that was good TV. Just pause and think about the baby from Dinosaurs. What was that? What a weird show. Remember when the brother was trying to prove that the world was round and walked all the way around the earth? Ummm excuse me?... I was never great at geography, but I am pretty sure that isn’t possible…

I would also like to inform you that a channel called TeenNick is bringing back our old favy shows. Apparently they are on “late night”… does that mean we are old enough to have our own version of Nick at Nite? Lord help us, we are getting old. This segment with vintage programming will be called The 90s are All That. Click Here for a trip down memory lane.

Here is a list of what shows have been featured in the promo:

(I bolded my favorites)

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

The Adventures of Pete & Pete

The Amanda Show

Are You Afraid of the Dark

Cat Dog

Double Dare

GUTs

Hey Arnold!

Hey Dude

Legends of the Hidden Temple

The Ren and Stimpy Show

Rocket Power

Rockos Modern Life

Rugrats

Salute Your Shorts

The Secret World of Alex Mack

Weinerville

How amazing is this!? I wish I had access to this channel. Why is it that the grand prize of the competition shows was always a trip to space camp? Okay, just to prove to you how much I loved Legends of the Hidden Temple. Check out Halloween circa ’07:

The lovely purple parrots. Libby was clearly jacked for Halloween!

Climbing treacherous territory (the stairs of the white apts)

Blue barracudas and a red jaguar

My fellow red jaguar

Remember how hard it was for those idiots to put together the silver monkey? Haha! It was 3 pieces! And the other prizes were a pair of Sketchers or a humungous “portable” boom box AKA Ghetto Blaster that took like 6 huge batteries. My sister got a boom box for Christmas once. I was still in the doll phase, but that boom box was giant super cool.  After receiving this boom box from Santa, we promptly went to Tower Records so she could get the newest Boys II Men CD.

I feel like I have left out so many good shows in this post. I mean, all my love to Saved by the Bell and Ghostwriter etc. I just don’t have time. I sort of feel that Saved by the Bell deserves its own post. You know? As I write this, I realize that I probably watched too much TV as a child. Maybe that is why I am so bad at math?...

PS. TV isn't all bad. Think about how much you learned from Wishbone!

Yikes! I am going to Powell’s tonight to get a book. It will be my weak attempt to compensate for this obscenely ridiculous television related post.