Thursday, November 1, 2007

Hodge Podge

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately. And I apologize to all 6 of you who check in on a regular basis. I know the pain caused when you repeatedly check back on old faves and find there has been nothing new posted. The reason for the silence is because I've been in one of those, "there's nothing really going on in my life" phases. The awkward kind that finds you at parties and FHE drowning in your attempts to make small talk about the absolutely nothing going on in your life. Well, now looking back I've realized that there have been things happening, but nothing really worthy of an entire blog post on it's own. But, perhaps all squished together with lots of pictures they could be of interest.

Fun with Food
A couple of weeks ago, our friend Travis (aka Matt) came over and taught us how to make sushi! Who knew it was so easy and could be so fun?? We started with some basic philadelphia rolls, but now I feel like I'm ready to move on to some more advanced sushi making.
The ingredients

The prep

A voila!

So, from gourmet to the very simple...remember fluffernutters?

I do. And I remembered them for dinner the other night. I love being a grown-up.

Fun with Amy

The most exciting thing that's happened lately is that Amy (of friendship basket fame) came to visit me a few weeks ago. We had a FABULOUS time! Amy explored the city, we had an empinada making party, we met a cheese monger and ate his delicious wares, we saw the Darjeeling Limited (which I highly recommend), we sniffed out a cupcake factory, we walked the ENTIRE city of Portland, we went shopping at my favorite boutique, we ate sushi, we laughed so hard we almost puked (literally), and just had an all around good time. What we did not do, was take any pictures. These are the only pictures I took from Amy's entire trip.

Fun with Salsa

Right before I left LA, I took some Salsa lessons (the dance, not the chip dip, otherwise this would be under fun with food). The lessons were good sweaty fun, but I never had a chance to test out my moves before I moved to Portland. Well, shortly after moving here I met a fellow salsa lover and a few weeks ago we got a group together and went dancing. So fun! We brought plenty of boys, so I never wanted for a partner, and toward the end of the night lots of the pros (read: non-english speakers) showed up and then things really got hot. I can't wait to go back and try again. We didn't get too many pictures of the dancing, but here are some shots from the night.




Fun with Fall

What would a post of mine be without talking about the weather. It's fall in Oregon, and while that means rain, it also means rainbows and beautiful fall colors. Everyday that I walk outside I am impressed with the beauty around me. Some days are clear and bright, with vibrant colors. Others are foggy and mysterious. But, it's all beautiful. Here are a few samples:

This is the view outside my office window (an office that I now have all to myself, for those of you aware of the earlier office dramas)

Rainbow, need I say more?
This is what I see everyday when I walk outside my house in the morning.

I should add that I've had to use my window scraper on my car 2 mornings this week...I didn't miss that when I lived in LA. It's a good thing I'm a pack rat and found my old scraper in my trunk!!

So, that's what's going on in my life! I hope you all feel adequately updated.

8 comments:

Amy said...

wow. I feel so privileged to be in the friendship basket - even though I kind of guilted you into removing Scott, not that I have anything against Scott. :) You said the sweetest things about me. Thank you. I love you! You are definately the bomb diggity in my book. If I had to choose between spending time with you and having never ending Pizza Bingo Fridays, I would choose you. We all know we were the only things fun about Pizza Bingo anyway. LOVES!

Evan said...

I fondly recall the days of colorful autumns and fluffernutter sandwiches. And aside from a brief work stint in DC I haven't really experienced either in well over 10 years.

Seriously, I love turning leaves so much that I want to put the 'u' in color just to do it justice. "The colour of the leaves" Oh yeah.

Oregon looks lovely. And don't feel the need to stop talking about the weather; it's fun for us SoCal folks.

Molly Bice-Jackson said...

Finally, an update! And you thought you had nothing going on in your life...this was quality blogger material. (and more importantly, quality life material). I miss going dancing and getting sweaty. Don't tell anyone, but Vic has no rhythm. Love you!

Annalisa Labor said...

Yay! A wonderful update! My roommate knows how to make sushi but we never find the time to make any.

Ryan said...

thanks for the update!

Jill J said...

Well well, I am slightly suprised that your last post was the 1st!! What happened to the Renee I used to know... staying up late giggling at her writings? Love the sushi pics!

Jessica said...

Your blog about sushi made me salivate. I must go home and make me some sushi too... yum!

Did you know that one of my family traditions is making/eating sushi on Christmas Eve? I love my family... and you!

:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ryan said...

PLEASE POST> we miss you!