Leap Day

Happy end of February- I hope you had a LEAP of a day! Can only say that once every 4 years so why not right? Today was so.....interesting. Well, weather wise anyway. This morning it snowed. SNOWED! Didn't stick, but still. And then it rained. The big slushy kind of rain. And then it was sunny. And then more rain. AND WINDY! Big, gusty winds. I had to go out to pick up my lunch today and for the first time this year had to take my umbrella. And luckily enough- I had on  my new rainboots! (thank you thank you thank you lynn!) So I was prepared and faced the elements with bravery and courage and warm, dry toes. In my new cute boots. Did I mention it was also FREEZING!? It was. This is how I will remember 2012 leap day. As a weird weather day. 

 Photos taken a couple weeks ago by Greg in front a a cool building in Downtown Albany.

Speaking of leap day.....have you ever known anyone born on leap day? I haven't. But today I saw on Facebook that my sweet friend Kellyn had her baby girl today (and such a cutie!). So know I sort of know someone born on leap day. Hope yours was a great one too! Do anything special?

Day Dreaming

Today was so lovely. Big white clouds and ample sunshine. Makes me want spring right NOW. Well, it is just around the corner. I can already see the daffodils starting to poke up their pretty heads out of the ground, and more and more buds are on trees and bushes. Today made me think of a day last spring when Kristi was here for a visit. We all went on a bike ride. Those are the days to remember.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

It's Thursday night, and chances are you are reading this on Friday- so happy Friday to you!! Or, as they would say in Hawaii, Aloha Friday! I am sooooo looking forward to a long weekend (thank you very much President's Day!). I keep thinking about last weekend and how great it was. Not only did I celebrate 6 wonderful years of marriage, but I had a great time with one of my bestest buddies, Michele. A run, bike ride with Napoleon, lovely lunch at one of my Favorite places downtown, Sweet Red, and an afternoon of shopping and finding some great deals (a necklace, art for my walls, and a sweet v-day card all for under $15!). And Sunday Greg and I went to Calapooia and listened to the blues jam- which always rocks! Nice right? This is what I work for- to enjoy life! 

This weekend Greg will be at a conference in Portland for work. So I'll be passing the time with friends, on a run, cooking brunch, knitting, watching Downton Abby (I'm totally hooked!), laundry, photography (if it's nice out), going to the OSU Symphony, and probably lots of play time and snuggles with Napoleon. Greg and I will both be home on Monday- so we'll be sure to find something fun to do with each other too. Hooray for the 3 day weekend!!!

Six Years and Going Strong

Six years ago Friday, I married my Royal Prince. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that it has already been six years....but I suppose that will happen every year from here on out. It has been quite the ride these years together; I wouldn't trade it for anything. There is definitely something to be said for marriage, especially one where the common denominator is love, and you plan and work towards your future together. Every set back we have encountered, we have always had each other for comfort, support and love. Most of all Love. We  know that no matter what happens, through every trial, through every success, we will have each other. There is such security in that. We are there for each other through sickness, through health, for the good times, and the bad. I feel like we've been through it all, and I know that whatever comes our way, we will make it through. Because what is written in our hearts is each other. And that is all that really matters.

Friday night we celebrated our marriage and each other with the loveliest of dinners at Sybaris. If you ever make your way to the Willamette Valley, this restaurant is a must go to.  We got the best seat in the house, right beside the wood burning fireplace. Our waiter, Jesse, was fantastic and took care of our every need. (you'll have to excuse the quality of photos, we didn't want to use the flash to much and it was dark and romantic in there)

We started out our meal with a glass of wine, and the swiss style smoked steelhead, poached leeks, with egg. Oh, my, goodness....yum!

Next came our main course. I had the pan fried oysters, chipotle tartare sauce, vegetable fried couscous and oyster sauce bok choy, and Greg had the grilled big pork chop, not-by-the-door-arkley's medlar chutney, chile spiked hominy, and porky greens. Both our meals were fantastic. It looked so good that we dug in right away and forgot to take a picture of the food when it first came and was so pretty. We actually used the flash on this one...

We were going to call it a night after we filled up on our delicious dinners, when much to our delight and surprise this beautiful dessert of chocolate hazelnut cake was brought out to us. I couldn't even really categorize this as cake.....just call it heaven instead! It was also on the house, how totally sweet is that? Well, I suppose we did have an in....Jesse, our waiter, is the boyfriend of one of Greg's employees (and she is a sweetie). We are definitely going to have to go out with them sometime.

Here we are after indulging ourselves in all of the deliciousness.  It was one fantastic meal! 

After dinner we went down to Calapooia and caught the last few songs of a really good band that was playing. So good, that my friend texted me three times to get down there. We ended up dancing between tables and bought a CD. The band is called The Druthers. They are from Portland, and so good! You should check them out. Well, that's a wrap on our anniversary date. It was one to remember.

DCA After Hours

This morning I was sitting at my desk going through email, like a good worker would, when I get an email from my boss. In the email there were two pictures of me from last night. This may not sound weird except that I was at the DCA After Hours and she was not. "Where the heck did you find these?!", I asked. To which she replied, "On Facebook!" I've never been on the DCA's FB page until today. But I "liked" it, so I'll see those photos first from now on! Well, assuming I actually check FB. Anyway, in case you didn't know, once a month a different business downtown hosts and after hours shindig, and I sell tickets for a raffle. Its like a service/volunteer thing, but I also do it so I can shmooze with all the business owners and try and learn a thing or two. Hey- it never hurts to be well connected. Also, it's fun to learn of all of the events being offered all of time.

 This is me selling tickets to guests.

 And this is me with Steve Hutchinson, the DCA board president, and Joan Wessell, the DCA's Executive Director. She's a peach and ropes me into it every month.
Photos courtesy of Jennifer Mooreland and Dave Basset.

A Sunshine Day

It's been sunny lately here in Oregon. Much needed sunshine after all the rain and flooding last month. I took a walk on my break today and it was so gorgeous outside; I had to snap a few photos along the way. Working in Downtown Corvallis pretty much rocks my world on days like this. Anywhere you go there is something interesting to look at.

Do you ever have a soundtrack playing in your head during certain activities? Ok, I know that sounds weird, but I often have some sort of song playing in my head at any given time.  It's like a soundtrack to my life. And today's song just happened to be the Brady Bunch, Sunshine Day. Yeah, I just admitted that online. Awesome. Anyways, hope you had a sunshine day today!

Hello February!

Today was a good beginning to a new month. Forget January, I'm so over you January. I'm looking forward to good things in February. Like great lunches. Today's was focaccia bread pizza loaded with veggies, fancy water, a good book, oh, and  a shopping trip for my first ever supremo shampoo. Yup, that all adds up to one pampered lady. In addition to a good day, I just got home from knit night at Stash. Everyone there is just so nice- it is so fun! Got picked up by my loves, Greg and Napoleon. Lots of kisses from both. :) 

Aaahhh, February, the month of love! It's a 10 day countdown to mine and Greg's 6 year wedding anniversary. Then there is Valentines day. Oooh, and spring starts coming to Oregon! Pretty soon the daffodils will be peeping, and buds will appear on tree branches. Yes, February is going to be a good month!