Yeah Right

Portland Trails Exploration

2011-12-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

Tis the season...for Birthday Parties

2011-12-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

Little Seoul-Portland

2011-11-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

At one of my favorite restaurants for eating in or taking out. Korean is the new Thai (at least for me). I was obsessed with Thai food for the past few years, but once I tried Little Seoul, all I can think about when asked where I want to go out to eat is the udon noodles and how effing tasty they are here. I don't even remember what dish it is specifically that I get, but the sauce that they use, paired with the udon noodles and fried tofu is utter perfection in my mind. Nothing gets better than this. Not even sesame tofu at my old Thai food haunts.

2011-11-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I realize that it's a season, like summer, only to realize that it's already passed. I feel like I am forever late to whatever it is that is going on, even if it's the turning of the seasons or of the hours ticking by. I can't believe that fall is already leaving and that winter has already graced us twice with overly large snow storms for such an early point in the year. I'm still ready for pumpkin seeds to be roasted in the oven and for Halloween costumes to be worn, even though that was to be done a month ago. I can't express how much fun that I have been having over the past few months, because I have been able and fortunate enough to be surrounding myself with so many people that love me and support me. There are times that I would like to just run away from Maine and to try new places and people, but then I always come to the conclusion that there will never be friends like my friends that are here and that even though new places are so fun for a while, nothing is ever as great as home is. Home is where my friends and family are and that is where I must be in order to be happiest in my life. I love you all. I even love you Maine when you only have sunshine for what seems like three hours out of every day. The countdown is on to when you will be having longer and longer days, instead of shorter and shorter. Lets do this.

Apple Picking for the First Time

2011-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

This year was the first time that I had ever been apple picking. At least, that I can remember and that my mom could remember. She said she had never taken me and I could not recall a single instance in my past that I had gone. It was amazing! I picked so many apples!

Then we brought them back to my friends apartment and made caramel apples! The caramel actually became too hard for me to be able to bite off the apple, but it was so delicious. So were the crepes that we made in the next few days for breakfast, with apple filling from the apples we had picked ourselves!

One of my favorite things about Portland is that there is the ability to escape the big city and go to all of these amazing outdoors options. You can go hiking on so many trails, even within Portland, that will make you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. Then you have the ability to go apple picking, berry picking or to any of the beaches that are a quick car ride or even a stroll, if you wanted to visit the East End Beach. There are so many fantastic areas within and around Portland to Explore.

Mister Abner can testify to that

Duck!

2011-11-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Boat Races

2011-10-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went up to Damariscotta to visit my family and to see the Pumpkin Festival! It amazes me how big it keeps getting every year, but people love giant pumpkins used as boats. I love it when people fall into the river. Pumpkins are fairly tipsy when used as boats.

Reny's Grand Opening-Topsham

2011-08-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the grand opening of the newest Reny's location, in Topsham! The store is huge and the selection is fantastic. It was slightly bizarre to be walking around in a store that had it's shelves fully stocked and all merchandise in it's proper place. Once the crowds of people that had gathered outside were let in, the shelves did not stay fully stocked for long. It was amazing to see how many people came out for the grand opening and came out to shop. I had just purchased over forty dollars worth of goods from Reny's the prior week, so I didn't have an immediate need for any new things, but I did spy some toys that my niece and nephew might need to have in the immediate future. There is also a clock radio that would make a nice addition to my office during tax season, which is when we are able to listen to the radio on the weekends.

Roller Skating BDay parties

2011-08-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

2011-08-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Car rides

2011-08-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Best Friends Braid Hairs

2011-08-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Alice was home for a week or so, as you can probably tell from the posts with her pictures in them. She braided Sequoia's hair into a spiral around her entire head. It was really impressive. She also did two french braids in my hair and it looked so adorable. I wish she were here to do my hair all the time. And you know, to hang out with. I will miss her oh so much now that she has left to go back to her now home state of Oregon. Hopefully she will be able to make the trip home for Christmas this year.

2011-08-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

2011-08-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

Wiscasset Summer Traffic

2011-08-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

The opposite of fun. My least favorite part of the summer, especially when you think that you will be safe due to the time of the day you are going through Wiscasset, but then you still in fact get stuck in traffic for almost an hour.

Damariscotta-best friends time

2011-08-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Red's Eats

2011-08-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

Crazy lines even in the rain

2011-08-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

2011-08-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

I love sticker graffiti! Thank you Portland artists for brightening my evenings out and about.

Thursday nights are for dancing

2011-08-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Smith Street sunset

2011-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Congress Street-Late night

2011-08-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

LePrick...LeHilarious

2011-08-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

Graffiti political commentary on Preble Street

Mackworth Island Fun

2011-07-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to go to Mackworth Island for a while. This Saturday was the day that I finally made the trip over the three bridges that took me to the island. It takes maybe ten minutes of driving to get there from my apartment and there is limited parking on the island, which makes it a relatively tourist free location. I wanted to go swimming, but the water was much too cold for me to venture in further than my ankles. I am a sally. I love that from some of the beaches you can see Portland.

Fairy houses in the community village. Not as many good ones as I had hoped for, but there were definitely three or four that blew my mind. I want to go back and make my own.

There were so many interesting little places for photo ops on the island. A lot of trees that were uprooted that I could then pose in front of/under and make funny faces.

I can't wait to go back. It's the perfect picnic spot. I'm hoping that the water will continue to warm up over the next few weeks and that I can maybe go swimming next time.

Space Dance Party

2011-07-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

Smith Street 4th of July

2011-07-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Eastern Prom

2011-07-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

This year was the first year I have ever been in Portland for the Fourth of July. I loved it. I love how the symphony plays along with the fireworks and how many people are on the prom.

Ice Cream Social

2011-07-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Summerz

2011-07-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

First Friday

2011-07-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Sooooo many people were out and about last night for first Friday. It kind of always amazes me how many people turn out for first Friday and this time was no exception. There were often times that I took to the street to walk, because the sidewalk was much too full to get through in a quick manner. My art walk favs the Portland Slow Riders were out in full force.

I took over 200 photos last night, so expect some more art walk pictures to come. For now though, it is off to bed after writing a cupcake blog post that took much longer than I expected. I am babysitting my niece and nephew tomorrow morning quite early, which I am very much looking forward to. They are the most adorable little kids ever (at least in my very biased mind).

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Eric Hou is one of my favorite artists in Portland. I have a few of his postcards that I put into a mobile that I bought in Oregon when I was out there. It makes me so happy to look up and see so many of his pictures just hanging down from my ceiling, turning slightly ever so often. I have a few larger format prints of his as well, that I still need to frame, in addition to some smaller prints that I already have framed and are hanging on my wall in my bedroom. They are so adorable. I also love that every year he does a different Read poster. I have the 2009 edition and the 2010 I think is my favorite so far, so I should probably get one of those as well. I think that I will honestly need a house in the near future so I can hang up all of my artwork in a non-cluttered manner. There are so many local talented artists and it is just so hard to not want to purchase their work and support them.

2011-06-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

I took this photo one day when I was wandering around Portland. I am quite sure that I've mentioned my love of the architecture that is in Portland before, but I am continuously taking new pictures of the buildings and specifically the corners or edges of buildings meeting the sky. It is one of my favorite things to just wander around the city and find new spots that I haven't seen or haven't taken the time to appreciate before.

2011-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sneaky IPhone photo taken at the Chellie Pingree fundraiser event I went to last night. Ok, so maybe I was only there for a few minutes. It was so crowded and I had a dinner date with a friend so I wasn't able to stay for long. I actually wore this to work, even though I have had one of my coworkers tell me the skirt is too short, however, my mom (who I also work with) told me that it it wasn't. So I'm going to go with her on that one.

Skirt-Tulle

Sweater-Tulle

Shirt-Banana Republic

After dinner my friend and I went to Local 188, where I had my very first Basil Lemonade. It was fantastic. This summer is going to be full of fancy drinks and fun times with my lady friends. I can already tell.

2011-06-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

My nephew playing at my parents house. I love how the sunlight hits his face in this photo. It always makes me so happy to spend time with my niece and nephew. I got on the floor and crawl chased my nephew, which he thought was hilarious! He's getting to the point where he sometimes will walk, but much prefers crawling. It's kind of amazing to see how fast he can get around while crawling. He's like a speed crawler. He actually beat me in the race into the living room, but then again I haven't been crawling on a consistent basis for over 27 years.

Finally, some fashion

2011-06-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

I now have a fantastic volunteer photographer who agreed to take photos of my outfits on a regular basis. This is my outfit for a birthday party that I was lucky enough to be invited to last night. The dress is actually from a wedding that I was in a year ago, as is the sweater.

Dress-Tulle

Sweater-Old Navy

Tights-Rite Aid (as bizarre as that is) They are Kushy Feet brand or something?

Shoes-Sketchers

Necklace-My grandmothers maybe real, but probably fake pearls. (I can never remember which ones are real and which ones are fake. I have one of both)

Purse-Nine West

2011-06-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Compost/Manure? next to the North Street community garden. I love funny little signs.

2011-06-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the East End School for the Vegetarian Food Festival. It was the first time that I had been able to make it to it, so that was exciting.

The East End School has flowers growing on the roof! How magical! I had never really walked around the East End before yesterday and I was quite surprised at how good the view was looking down onto the city and also how many nice houses were around there.

I didn't even know that there was a community garden up there!

And this beautiful walkway to a lookout point so that you can see the whole city.

It was raining by the time we got to the end of the walkway, but it was still nice to see the whole city from above. I want to go back on a beautiful day to see what it is like then. I love how I can continually find new and beautiful places in the city.

Yesterday changed my opinion of the East End completely, because I had never really been that big of a fan before. I much prefer the West End, but the East End did remind me on the way back to my car how sometimes it smells like a bathroom. Oh East End, you stay classy! Perhaps we can blame the rain on that one?

2011-06-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to this new thrift shop on Congress street. It's called 604 Thrift and it's amazing. I bought two dresses there for under ten dollars, one of which will be my birthday dress this year. The dress is white and has these two pink ribbons and bows on it which makes it look like a birthday package or cake. When I tried it on I knew that it had to be the dress that I wear to celebrate my birthday this year. I just need to hem it a little (ok so maybe my mom will hem it a little) and it will be good to go! The other dress was a pink Gap dress with little flowers on it and I found a nice bright pink belt. I don't know why I was having such a pink day that day, because pink isn't a color that I am normally drawn to.

I also managed to find a Pyrex dish set that was only $6. It seriously blew my mind how good the prices were there. I remember the days (like ten years ago?) when you could go to a thrift shop and actually find good deals on things you actually wanted and that was exactly what I found here.

I had originally forgotten the name of the shop, so I Googled it and found this review on Yelp:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/604-thrift-portland

It seems that someone else is a fan of the shop as well! I like that the reviewer mentions the dog that is there, because I love stores with dogs. I love dogs in general and to go to a shop that has a dog in it warms my heart like nothing else. Plus, how can you not love a place that has a little note in the dressing room to remind you that you are beautiful.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

After our annual trip to the Veteran's Cemetery in Augusta, we took a side trip to a vineyard/distillery in Union. They had so many adorable lambs! The fog made the Maine countryside look so magical.

We paid $2.50 for a glass and tasting of up to six of their different wines and spirits. I ended up giving my last choice to my uncle, so he could have another option. The glasses were adorable and one of my friends ended up drinking wine out of it last night. My two favorites of the tasting were the peach wine and the peach smashed port. I like sweet things and both of this were just sweet enough for me. I don't normally like wine, unless it's mead, but the peach wine was delicious enough for me to buy a bottle of it.

2011-05-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

I can't remember what day it was this week, but I took a study break and went for a walk around the Eastern Promenade with one of my friends. A quick break for exercise is really good to help keep you focused when you are studying. The trail took us down to the Narrow Gauge Railroad. I loved looking at all the old train cars, specifically this Ocean Spray cranberries car.

There are so many different forms of beautiful areas in Portland and I am just starting to find so many of them. It's my new goal to get outside more often, explore more and just have an amazing time while I am in this city.

2011-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

The tree in my neighbors yard is just starting to bloom/leaf out and it is so beautiful. I like to look out my window and watch the squirrels run around the trees or even just watch the new leaf growth sway in the wind. Green is my favorite color, so now that everything has started the regrowth process it is much more appealing to take walks around the neighborhood and around in town. The cemetery up in the East End has these trees that have bloomed this week and they are so beautiful. I forgot my camera at my apartment when I left to meet some friends at Silly's early this afternoon, so I wasn't able to take a photo of them. Maybe later this week I can manage to.

2011-05-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started with a wonderful walk up and down Pine Point Beach. At first I pointed all the way to the end, saying that we were going to walk there. I knew that was an unrealistic goal to begin with, but sometimes it's nice to just say "yes, we are going to do that or attempt to do that and even if we don't make it the whole way, we will enjoy our journey." Which we did. I had some of the best and most understanding conversation that I have had in years. It is really nice to find a friend who can understand things that others try to, but just can't fully grasp. Not that I love those other friends any less, because honestly, all I can ask is for them to try and they do with a whole lot of love in their hearts.

I can't even fully describe how full of awesome yesterday was. I saw so many people, so many friends specifically and it was just amazing. The day was packed with fun times with my friends and my favorite foods, such as soft serve from the Dairy Corner in Scarborough and the hot bar at Whole Foods. We ended up having a picnic on the Eastern Prom after our trip to the hot bar and it was just so beautiful outside. I can't wait to have even more picnics this summer. I also got my first sunburn of the season on the back on my neck and a little color on my nose.

2011-04-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite views of home. This weekend has been jam packed full of seeing friends and family. I don't know how I have managed to see so many people in such a short amount of time, especially now that I have finally come to the conclusion I am coming down with a cold. In a word, I am exhausted.

Recently I decided that I was going to take up running. My first step is to read a book called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, which was suggested to me by my friend Erin (http://www.bluebirdbaby.typepad.com/) and also by my chiropractor. I am going to save up enough money to get a pair of sneakers that my chiropractor recommended (Nike Free) and then start running. Hopefully this will all take less than a month before I can actually start running. The goal is to start small and then be able to run a few miles at a time. I feel like having a small goal of a few miles is reasonable, since in the past I have not enjoyed running. Perhaps since I will be on my own and not being yelled at by a field hockey coach it will be more fun this time. I like to move my body and want to be able to enjoy running. So I shall start small and see where it will take me.

2011-04-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

I took a walk at lunch with my mom and I brought my camera along with me. I'm not one to edit my pictures at all, so i try to take as many pictures as I can to make sure that I can get one that I like. Plus, it's hard to see what it even looks like on my camera screen outside. I am pretty sure I have dropped this old canon just a few too many times. There is also a nice layer of dust between the image screen and the protective glass over it. I keep thinking about upgrading to a fancier camera, but in a way I like to be limited in this way. I feel like it forces me to be a little more creative with my shots, since I know that most of them won't turn out the way I want them to.

2011-04-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really love looking through old pictures. This one was taken last year at the Hate the Love event for Maine Roller Derby. It was Lady Gay Gay's (on the right) and my (on the left) coming out party for the derby world, as well as the rest of our newbie group at the time. I am no longer involved in derby as a skater, I volunteer when I have the time, but I still love going to watch my friends do what they love and have such obvious passion for. Roller Derby requires an enormous time commitment and passion is required in order to become highly skilled at this sport on skates.

Speaking of which, there is a bout coming up this weekend at the Expo. If you have yet to go see a roller derby bout here in Maine I highly suggest going to see this one. It is our local girls the Port Authorities versus the Boson Massacre. My roller derby nerd skills are putting the win on the Boston Massacre, but I think that the Port Authorities can really give them a run for their money. The Port Authorities recently acquired two skaters from Gotham (ranked number one in the East) and additionally have a really solid lineup of veteran skaters, with a few very skilled newish skaters. The Massacre seems to be in a rebuilding year and possibly suffering from a few injuries with key skaters, which could give the Port Authorities the slight edge that they might need to take a win.

http://www.mainerollerderby.com/events/

There is even an after party at the Empire.

Even though my weekend will be dominated by:

those cuties and the rest of my family for Easter fun, I am definitely going to this bout to cheer on some very talented ladies and to the after party to get my dance on with them.

2011-04-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

There is nothing super special about this picture, but I really love having Oakhurst as my neighbor. There is something about the building and the trucks that I find magical. I know that is probably a bizarre thing to say, but to drive past it at night and see the building with it's lights on really stirs some sort of emotion inside of me. I don't drink milk any more, but I still will only have Oakhurst whipped cream.

2011-02-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

I went to the Friendly Toast last night. It was amazing! I had this awesome Herb Omelet that had brie cheese in it, along with some anadama toast and home fries! So good. It was on the way back from an amazing roller derby bout in Boston. My favorite team, The New Skids on the Block versus my other favorite (primarily due to geography) the Boston Massacre. Any other time I would cheer for the Massacre, but the New Skids are my all time favorite now. THEY WON! I GOT A TSHIRT! It was amazing. Also, there were cupcakes: http://portlandcupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/boston-kickass-cupcakes.html

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

Even though my day yesterday was non-stop, I made sure to make a quick trip up into town early in the morning so I could see all the hearts the Valentine's Day bandit had put up. Valentine's Day in Portland is one of my favorites due to the hearts that pop up all over town. One of my favorites was this one:

It would make me so happy to come back to my car in the morning to see a heart on it!

I tried to treat myself as much as possible yesterday and that included stopping at Mister Bagel in Brunswick. It is one of my favorite spots to grab a bite to eat before work. Actually, my only favorite spot as the only other places I stop at before work are gas stations. They had these adorable red heart shaped bagels and I had to have one, with cinnamon raisin tofu!

2011-02-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

I managed to eat one of the cutest cupcakes ever today. If I have to miss the Disney Princesses on Ice, at least I got to have a cute little treat. Back to the ol' homework now...

2011-02-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hello little yellow bicycle. I would love you in my life!

2011-02-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

The sun shining on my bathroom door/through the doorknob. It was beautiful!

2011-02-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Pretty sure this was taken right after I had successfully acted out and had my team correctly guess the Jersey Shore in charades. Me and my nine year old friend Sequoia are totally on the same wave length when it came to the game. She would do a few movements and then I would say "MOBY DICK!" or "DIAL M FOR MURDER!" She knew from what I was doing that it was the Jersey Shore. We totally aced it.

2011-02-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

I love adorable street art. Meow.

2011-01-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to start posting pictures of my outfits in an attempt to try and dress up more/put more of an effort into my appearance. The details for this outfit are:
Skirt-Tulle
Shirt-Renys (not sure the actual brand)
Sweater-Something my mom and I picked up one Christmas season at Sears.
Boots-L.L. Bean

I am not always that fond of tucking shirts into either skirts or pants, but I'm going to make more of an effort to tuck them into skirts with a high waist. I like how it looks. I also really like that sweater. It has this really nice beading detail across the chest.

2011-01-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

This was two storms ago at my parents house. I remember last winter we really only had one huge storm and then the rest of the winter was just cold. I kind of miss it, but there is always something magical about really large snowstorms. Even if they are a pain to drive in.

2011-01-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

The backside of the Victoria Mansion in Portland.

I visited the mansion on the last day the Christmas decorations were up this weekend. It was definitely worth the $13.50 I paid for admission. It has been my goal to make it to the Christmas exhibit for a few years now and I finally made it a priority. I went into the gift shop hoping that they would have these lavender candies that they had sixteen or so years ago when I was last there. They were in a tiny tin with a picture of a Victorian lady on the cover and were the best tasting little candies. Unfortunately, neither lady seemed to have any idea what I was talking about and said there were no lavender candies there.

2011-01-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

A beautiful sunset in Bremen. One of the favorite parts of my job is the fact that I get to travel around Maine and see all of the little towns. This is also one of my least favorite parts, due to all the driving, but I really do love being able to see parts of Maine that most people don't.

2011-01-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do in the city is to just walk around and enjoy the structure of Portland. I love the architectural details on the majority of the buildings and I also love how there is street art everywhere. Most of it is tags, which isn't really all that impressive, but then there are these wonderful murals. The backside of the Asylum always has some interesting art on it. Currently there is a tribute piece to Stephen King. I wonder what he thinks about it.

I took some clothes into Find today to sell and I also took a box of books into Longfellow to do the same thing. It is my goal to reduce the amount of extra things that I have, which have a way of cluttering my space. It is an ongoing project, which will take time. I have a hard time letting go.

This afternoon one of my friend's and I went to see the King's Speech at the Nickelodeon. It was interesting to see the audience in the theater. Who knew that at a 1pm matinee it would be over eighty percent people over seventy. I really enjoyed the movie. I think next on our list of movies to see will be True Grit. I love seeing movies at the Nick, because it costs so much less and you can always get a better snack at one of the coffee shops or other restaurants in the immediate area. The last time we went to the movies we saw Black Swan and bought cookies at Bard. I also got a hot chocolate and on that day those were the perfect combination for movie viewing.

2011-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

My niece and nephew this weekend. They are opening presents from our Uncle Lincoln. I was able to spend three non-stop hours with them. We played and we watched a movie. My niece really likes to watch movies. She will just pick one up and then give it to you with the expectation that you will put it in and hit play. My brother has a really fancy television, which I haven't been all that sure of how to make it work. I finally figured it out this weekend though! Bailey and I lifted our hands up and waved them around in celebration.

2011-01-01T08:09:00.001-08:00

So for 2011 here are my resolutions. Perhaps I will go back and find my resolutions for 2010 and comment on how well, or not well, I did.

1. Make a to do list for every day

2. Take a picture every day ( I did the same thing last year, failed)

3. Start working out multiple times a week

4. Graduate from the MBA program

5. Keep a running list of the books that I have read during the year

6. See my family more

7. Eat better-more fresh and local foods

8. Keep better touch with my friends

9. Move to the West End

10. Keep on focusing on being happy

Ok so maybe some of them weren't really resolutions, but I felt like I wanted to get to ten. Ten seemed like a good number where I could achieve at least some of them, while being ok to fail at a few of them. The working out and eating better are things that are on my immediate items to start and I also really want to do a to do list every day. If only to keep track of what I actually do and to keep me on track of actually doing things. I have a bad habit of not doing things if I don't have a to do list guiding me. So happy new year!!!

Christmas

2010-12-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas really is so much more fun when you have little kids in the mix. My niece and nephew are so adorable! I limited myself to only two presents for each kid and it's so much fun to buy for them. We had our annual Christmas eve party at my parents house where my mom's family comes over. Then on Christmas we went over and had breakfast at my brother's house! After breakfast my mom and I went on our annual Christmas trip to L.L. Bean in Freeport. I bought a really nice coat and my mom bought me some new boots! I'm very happy with everything that I got this Christmas and how much time I was able to spend with my family. I have had so much pie over the past few days that I don't think I could eat pie again for a very long time.

2010-12-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

I am pretty sure that torture is writing a no more than thirty page term paper with the topic of accounting. I had a dream last night where I was able to see my cutie pie niece and nephew. Hopefully this weekend I can make that a reality. It's been fun, during my procrastination, to plot out what I am going to do with my free time that will be able to happen after 7pm today. I do have two more classes after the one I have to hand this monster paper in for, but they both consist of me only having to show up. Oh, actually I have three. The last one is at the Top of the East where we will be having drinks with the professor. I think that is a fitting way to end the semester.

2010-11-27T04:45:00.001-08:00

I realized that I haven't even mentioned the fact that I went to Oregon in October to visit two of my best friends! It was a really grand adventure. I flew on JetBlue, primarily due to the fact that they advertise unlimited snacks. Turns out once I was on the flight I didn't even care about the snacks! All I wanted to do was sleep until it was over. Both flights were spent that way. I also managed to not even need to use the bathroom using my sleep through the flight strategy, which was good since I had the window seat. Here are just a few pictures from the trip.

The first day there my friend Alice and I went on this Tree to Tree adventure. There were zip lines and we had to climb up/over/around different obstacles. It was really fun. In the next few days we went to the zoo, Saturday Market and a roller derby bout. After the roller derby bout I went to Eugene to visit my friend Sarah!

We went to a pumpkin patch to "pick" pumpkins. The only thing actually required from us was to decide on whatever pumpkin out we wanted and then carry it. No actual picking was necessary. They had the tastiest kettle corn popcorn at this pumpkin patch. I wish I had realized how good it was while still there and bought five bags to bring back with me.
After a few days in Eugene I took the train back to Portland, Oregon. It was really beautiful. I snapped some pictures along the way and I really like how they turned out. I'm convinced my camera has taken one too many falls and also the windows of the train were really dirty, but that resulted in some pretty pictures.

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T05:59:00.000-08:00

My family! (minus my Uncle Lincoln who was taking the photo) We had Thanksgiving last Saturday, which turned out to be a good thing since I am dealing with a horrible cold at the moment. Nick, my boyfriend, made dinner over at his apartment last night and it was really good! I managed to still have some of the honey orange zest butter my mom made for the family Thanksgiving and use it for the biscuits we had last night. It is so good. I was going to make a pie, but then realized yesterday I didn't have any ingredients to make it and all the stores were closed. I guess planning ahead is not something I can do while sick. Another thing that had to go was Black Friday shopping. There was no way I could see myself fighting the crowds to get deals today. I bought a few things online, but I'm going to save my money for:
http://www.picnicportland.com/

and
Shop-A-Do!

Buy local this holiday season! I'm pretty sure by the time those two events come I will be done with my Christmas shopping anyways, but I can just buy things for myself or find some more things that my mom and dad would like. Also, I've come to the conclusion I need a new camera. I think I dropped it one too many times to take nice pictures anymore (as you can tell from the grainy quality of the above photo).

2010-10-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Peaks! I went there for the first time last weekend and biked around the island with my boyfriend. He took so many pictures of me on my bike, probably because he doesn't believe I will ride it again with him any time soon. I complain, quite vocally, about how much it hurts my butt to ride my bike. I have been told to just ride my bike more often and after a while it won't hurt, so that is what I shall try and do! I can't even explain how much fun I had that day. We looked for sea glass on a beach and Nick found me a piece of lavender sea glass! I tried to give him a piece of a crab shell in thanks, which he politely declined. From that beach we had a nice view of Portland's waterfront with a gigantic cruise ship at the docks.

2010-10-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

On the way to Vermont a month ago we stopped at a few places in the White Mountains. These ducks were so much fun! Nick had to buy food for them from a machine, because he tricked them by kneeling down to say hi and ended up with a whole bunch of hungry ducks around him. To make up for it he spent his last quarters to buy them some food. Vermont was so beautiful and warm. I walked down to the waterfront and read Artemis Fowl in the sunshine. I ended up with a nice burn on my left shoulder. I couldn't stop looking at the mountains that you can see in the background of this picture. They are so beautiful. The whole trip was full of such amazing scenery. The ride back was probably the best, since Nick drove and I could just look out the window at the countryside.

2010-08-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

Willard beach is one of the top polluted beaches in Maine I guess. I read that somewhere online. I guess they don't close the beach, but sometimes they have warnings up to not go into the water. This makes me want to go to other beaches, but the fantastic thing about Willard is that you can watch the ship traffic! I love watching the tug boats pushing the gigantic ships out to the ocean. I swear the water was colder there than it was at Pine Point! The only thing that Pine Point has that Willard doesn't have is the most amazing ice cream place. I had banana soft serve there the other day and it was the best soft serve I have ever had.

2010-07-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hiking at Dodge Point.

2010-07-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Morning bun from Standard Baking Co.

2010-05-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

My niece, the future vandal.

Grilled Cheese Standoff

2010-01-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

I went out to lunch with my brother, sister in law and Bailey (my niece). The waitress brought my lunch out first, a grilled cheese sandwich, because she thought it was for Bailey. At first Bailey and I played with the boat that it came on until she went for the grilled cheese. That was when I promptly decided that the boat needed to move out of reach so that my lunch would not become something I would not want to eat. Bailey didn't know how to react and sat there with that expression on her face for the next five minutes until her chicken fingers came out. It was hilarious.

2010-01-02T11:51:00.001-08:00

Our snowed in porch. It is supposed to snow all weekend!

2010-01-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite ornaments. I have had it since I was probably four or five.

2009-12-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

This happened with no interference on my part

2009-12-13T15:33:00.001-08:00

Connie

2009-11-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2009-11-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

Halloween was so much fun this year! I was the super hero version of myself! I made my cape and shirt that day and I am fairly proud of how it turned out. I really just wanted to wear a cape. The weather was perfect for it as well, kind of windy and super warm. It was actually 61 degrees out when we did the West End Parade at 6pm. We went to a new restaurant/bar called Grace, which is in an old church. It was really beautiful and enough fun to tide us over until we could get into the sold out Space dance party.

So excited for Trick or Treaters!!! Unfortunately none came while we were still home, but our bowl was half empty when we got back! I thought so many more would come by since we are in a residential area that is safe. More candy for me!

Weekend at home

2009-10-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

I managed to finally see my niece! It has been almost two months, which is far too long when they are so little. We had fun dancing and running around the house. I also went to the Miles Memorial League rummage sale on Friday and Saturday. I scored so many deals and found a ton of amazing old books! There was also a going away party for Alice on Saturday night. It was a surprise party! I was in charge of getting her to the party, which is kind of nerve wracking since I am such a horrible liar. She was surprised though! All in all it was a really good weekend.

My new street

2009-10-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

If you remember the picture of my last street, Grant Street, then you can see what an improvement this one is. It is really pretty right now with the leaves changing and falling on the ground! Plus there is no disgusting old furniture on the sidewalks or syringes. We did have a drunk guy, who was covered in vomit, come onto our porch who I politely asked to leave through one of our three windows that look out directly onto the porch. He did.

What I do at work

2009-10-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

Tell my coworker to take pictures of me standing in the corner of our office. That's Maine style, specifically due to the rain boots from Reny's. They have lobsters on them!

2009-10-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on in the past few weeks/months. I tried out for the Maine Roller Derby League and made it! I've been practicing with them since early September. It is really such a fantastic experience. I'm a horrible skater, but the more I do it, the better I get. I'll be very glad when my semester is over, since one of our practice nights coincides with the time of one of my classes. It's kind of hard to tell the professor that I've got to go do something else when he considers our class to be vital. Plus, roller derby isn't as easy a sport to grasp as basketball. I feel like if I was on the USM basketball team or field hockey team he would be much more supportive.
The pictures are from the Pumpkin Festival in Damariscotta over Columbus Day weekend. There were pumpkin boat races in the river! It's so much fun and there were so many delicious pumpkin food items for sale. I had pumpkin pie soda, which absolutely fantastic. My roommate and I had to fight kids to be able to have our picture taken in that thing. Then I managed to bump my shoulder really hard on the frame and that is when I concluded it was not built for big people.

Wading pool. Deering Oaks

2009-08-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

2009-08-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

I really want to start trying new restaurants in Portland. I think that one of the first ones I will go to is Bonobo Pizza.
http://www.bonobopizza.com/menu.htm
I've heard so many good things about the place that I think it's time I actually tried it. I often get into a rut of going to the same restaurants in Portland, but it is only because I love them so much. I always want to go to Bangkok Thai and get Rama Tofu. It is my favorite dish in Portland and I am such a creature of habit. I also am definitely going to try the cupcake stand that is in Tommy's park this weekend. I walked by it two weekends ago and I really wanted to stop and get one, but I didn't have any cash on me. This weekend I am going to make sure that I do have cash and I stop to get a cupcake!!! Cupcakes are one of my favorite things ever. I made some the other night that were vegan squash and chocolate chip cupcakes. Normally the recipe calls for pumpkin, but I didn't have any so I substituted squash instead and they turned out fine.
I bought two books at the Maine Coast Book Shop a few days ago. One is called Wonderland and is really more of a comic book, but multiple issues contained in one book. It is the story of Alice in Wonderland from another point of view and the art in it is pretty amazing. I also bought The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which I can not wait to start since I loved one of Kate DiCamillo's other books, The Tale of Despereaux.
I wish I had some pictures to share, but I've been very lazy in taking any photos lately.
I do have this beautiful one of South China. The sky is never ending there.

2009-06-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my family and I went to the cemetery in Augusta to visit my grandparent's graves. This is a yearly tradition (since 1990) and then we usually go antiquing on the way home. This was the first year that I had seen the flags out on every single veteran's grave. It was an amazing sight. My brother and I helped put around thirty flags on some of the veteran's graves that were around our grandparents. It was really easy and felt really good to do. They had a lot of volunteers there to do the work, so it went really quickly. My dad was able to put the flag for my grandfather on his grave.

Wedding in Maryland

2009-05-08T12:58:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday my friends, boyfriend and I went on a road trip down to Maryland. I was a bridesmaid in my friend Katie's wedding and my friend Joel was the the officiant for the ceremony. He did a really great job and the wedding was pretty fabulous. The ceremony was outside this old mansion, with the reception inside. I feel like I didn't take enough pictures of the trip, but I took over 150 of them. I will be honest and say about 20 of those pictures are of my hair after the wedding was over and I took out all the pins. It was pretty big and ridiculous.

That was the mansion. It was really amazing and conveniently located on a golf course. It was amusing to see golfers walking by while we were in rehearsal for the ceremony or during the actual ceremony. I don't have any pictures of me in my dress unfortunately, but I'm sure there will be some from somebody else at some point.
On the way back to Maine we made a stop over in New York City. This was the first time that I had ever actually been to NYC, since you can't really count a layover in one of the airports. It is gigantic! We didn't do much more than go to our friends apartment in Queens, where we were staying, and then visit a playground a few blocks away.

In the morning we got some breakfast in the upper west side. The trip there required going through Central Park, which is beautiful! It would be nice to go back to the city, but I do like being in a place where I can see where I need to go/am going without my view being blocked by gigantic buildings. I don't know how anyone can get around there.

2009-05-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

We have a new roommate. Well I guess two if you count Zach. Frank had to stay in the bathroom while Zach was moving all his stuff in to the apartment. Let me just say that Frank was not too pleased to be shut in the bathroom. He likes to rule the apartment with an iron fist and tin foil balls.

2009-04-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

This morning Nick and I went to the Good Egg Cafe, which is the Pepperclub's breakfast/brunch version of itself. It was fantastic. I really want to go again, but I feel like there are so many other places in Portland that I have to try first. It is definitely my new favorite though. They have a really good vegetarian selection and their english muffins are so tasty. Last night we went to Sillys, which was the first time I had ever been there. I love their vegan menu and the sweet potato fries are so delicious. They are thick cut, have a little bit of salt on them and very tasty. We also had some fried pickles, which were weird, but also good. We were going to try the new raw/vegan restaurant GRO, but it turned out to be closed. Going to Sillys instead only consisted of extending our walk a little bit further. It was probably good that we walked there, since we needed to burn off a few of the many calories we consumed.

My neighborhood

2009-04-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=103893&catid=2
This is at the end of my street. Pretty much a block away from my apartment. I thought it was further when I looked at it on Google maps, but then realized that I can totally see the street from my apartment. I think it's a sign of what kind of neighborhood it is when they lock the porta-potty when the construction workers leave. There is a big chain around the entire thing and a tree. I woke up last night to yelling, again. This time however it turned out that someone had stabbed another person with a kitchen knife (turned out to be a butter knife when I saw it this morning in the street). Sometimes I can find the humor in these situations, since nobody really got hurt (it was just a butter knife and I saw the guy walking away). They were all yelling "Is that the cops?! We are all going to jail!" The girl yelled "GO, BABY, GO! I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" I am also pretty sure it was the girl that stabbed whoever she was yelling at to leave quickly in case the cops were coming. These are the reasons I don't go out of my apartment at night by myself though. I don't want to run into people that say they would all go to jail if the cops found them. The warmer weather just means I can hear the crazies more easily in the middle of the night.

2009-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that there is a lack of "Yo PETE". Pete must have moved or yo pete must have not made it through the winter? I have also not seen my old arch nemesis Dr. Snuggles and the other cat whose name is also Pete. I am thinking they might not have made it through the winter, but there have been cat paw prints on my car, so maybe they are just being sneakier.
Next Wednesday I am going down to Maryland for a wedding. If anyone has any travel suggestions for the DC area they would be more than appreciated. I have no idea what to do down there. I know there are a lot of things to do, but I also don't know if we will even have much time to do anything besides wedding things. I'm getting a little stressed out about the travel and money and everything, but I know that once everything starts happening that it will be ok.

2009-04-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed to hit up the new thrift shop in Damariscotta. I had already asked Erin about the place, hoping for a really positive review from her. Unfortunately, the shop lived up to what Erin told me, which is that it is pretty much for older women. They did have a pretty nice yellow coat that I thought about getting, until I saw the price tag of almost thirty dollars. Old lady clothes at an old lady price. They did have some cheese and crackers, but I decided against staying in there any longer and went over to Renys.

2009-04-18T18:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days where you could wander around the city for hours on end. This is in fact what I did! The temperature was in the high sixties maybe even reaching into the low seventies at some point in the afternoon. After a trip to the Portland Head Light earlier in the day, I decided to take a three and a half hour walk around the city. I made sure to stop at a few of my favorite stores along the way and I even re-found one of my favorite clothing stores from a few years ago. I thought they had closed for good, but it turns out that they had just moved to another location. There was a gigantic upsetting event for me that occurred while I was walking down Exchange Street. Normally I wouldn't read signs that are on doors of my favorite stores as I walk by, but this sign was blue and I thought to myself "perhaps I should turn around and see what that sign says". That sign said that Books Etc would be closing for good next Friday. This is very, very upsetting to me. It is one of my favorite places to go in the city when I have any time off. The owner of the store is really nice and to have the store close seems like such a loss for the area. I know there are a lot of other bookstores, but Books Etc was my favorite in Portland. It was really sad to walk down Exchange street and see how many stores had closed, were going to close or were moving to another location. Thankfully the Books Etc in Falmouth will still be open, but it's just not the same.
My old digital camera broke recently or at least I realized it didn't work anymore. I did buy a new one the other day and once I figure it out I will hopefully post some new pictures.

Frankendog

2009-01-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

Turns out that mass was a cancerous tumor. Now we just wait until Woofie heals and the vet sees if they got it all out. No idea after that. Woofie is in good spirits and so are the rest of us.

2009-01-09T13:01:00.001-08:00

I've been home for a few days recovering from a particularly nasty stomach bug. Woofie is also recuperating, from two surgeries done at the same time. One of them was to take a mass the size of a softball off his right side and the other one was investigatory in his bladder. He's been having a bit of a leaking problem that has plagued him for months. The vet has no idea what the cause of it is, nor does he know what the heck the mass was. The only thing he said about the mass for sure was "it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen". Poor Woofie. He seems to be in good spirits and hasn't skipped a beat in his begging for people food. He even whined while I was having yet another bout in the bathroom and came down to sit next to me on the floor to keep me company. What a good little chap he is! I have managed to finish the last two Sally Lockhart books by Philip Pullman. The third one is by the far the best, since the last one barely even has Sally in it. I also read the "Tale of Despereaux", which is utterly fantastic and now I really want to see the movie.

2008-12-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas party at work on Friday. Bailey decided to make an appearance and so did Lindsay's baby Alison. Bailey, was not the best behaved baby there, unfortunately. They were both really adorable and probably the favorites of the party. Everyone had to hold Alison, while not as many wanted to hold screaming Bailey. She isn't normally so grouchy, so I can forgive her this time. I had way too much food and I think so did everyone else. We invited the roofers in for some dessert and only one of them actually ate any, but he certainly made up for the other guy not eating any.
This morning I finished up most of my Christmas shopping. I went to Longfellow books and managed to spend more than I had planned. I bought the first two Sally Lockhart books for myself, since I've been waiting for them to come out in tradepaper. I also bought that book by the nine year old boy who gives dating advice. It is too funny! I should have bought that for everyone for Christmas.

2008-12-18T04:11:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Portland is so beautiful. My favorite lights are those in the Deering Oaks Park. They changed color! They were blue and purple and now they are white and orange. I really loved the blue and purple. It was so beautiful with the ice and the snow with the reflections of blue.

2008-12-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

The past few days I've been staying at my parents. This is because of the storm, which knocked out our power and made it too icy to return to Portland. It was nice to spend some quality time with Woofie. It was so pretty to see all the ice on the trees. I know how dangerous it can be, but it is also so beautiful.

My brother won't be getting power back until sometime early next week. He had some major problems with his power box being ripped off his house by a tree limb. Thankfully my parents house never lost power. We did have to deal with a basement that was filling up with water. It always does that though, so we have a plan in place for dealing with it.
Now I have to get through the next week.

2008-12-09T17:46:00.001-08:00

I saw all of these birds lined up on the roof and had to take a picture of them when I was on the walk this weekend. It was really close to the house on State Street that has the prayer flags on their porch.
I'm kind of realizing today how much work I have to do in a week. Finals are seriously going to kill me this semester. My accounting professor seems to think it's a good idea to throw us the financial statements to Lehman Brothers because it will be a good learning experience. This would be great as a project sometime during the semester, but for our final?! He even admits that he doesn't understand them all, but wants us to give our best effort.

2008-12-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

This is my street. In all it's trashy, dirty glory. I jumped on that chair on Halloween dressed up as a fairy. It has been sitting out on the sidewalk for months. For some reason there is also a car bumper right next to it. It is interesting to see what people put out on the street. They don't do that in Damariscotta.

Saturday morning walk

2008-12-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I went to the Space gallery in order to get signed up as a volunteer. I can't wait to start volunteering! I'm signed up to be a gallery sitter next Saturday. I also signed up to work a show and a film at the end of December.
It was so fantastic walking through Portland on a quiet Saturday morning. I was in love with everything I saw. I took a lot of pictures with my Holga and my digital camera. You can see more pictures at my flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29668807@N08/
I took a lot of photos of that statue with the holiday outfit on. It is in Longfellow Square and I find it really great that someone dressed it up for the holidays. I wish someone would do it to the fountain in Bath.

2008-12-05T10:37:00.000-08:00