Just a hello...

I just realized that it's been almost two weeks without a new post! Time has been flying by...

We haven't been up to a whole lot of exciting stuff lately, as we are now under a week away from Paul taking the bar exam! As you can imagine, most spare time has been devoted to studying.

We did have a great winemaker's dinner on Feb. 14th... for Paul's birthday, NOT for Valentine's Day! :) It was a birthday surprise for Paul. We headed out to the Brookside Inn in Carlton to have a multi-course dinner paired with the wines of Archery Summit. It was so amazing. I will post the menu a little bit later or tomorrow.

Nothing else new, just wanted to assure everyone we are alive and well! Exciting stuff coming soon... hopefully... :)

Love,
Jenny

Rubber to the Road

Well, yesterday was not quite as beautiful as Wednesday, but we didn't let that stop us!

We hit the road on our bikes for a 20-mile ride, including some serious uphill climbs. We rode down the Springwater Corridor and over the Sellwood Bridge (complete with a suicide counseling phone number perched on the bridge railing - nice) to the River View Cemetery. This cemetery is well over a hundred years old, and extremely beautiful and peaceful. I hope I didn't disrupt the peace with my huffing and puffing... this was not an easy ride. But well worth it.





After River View, we hopped on the trail over to Tryon Creek State Natural Area. There is a large series of trails through this area, but we decided to walk the short loop of the Trillium Trail. They are featuring an art exhibit on this trail right now, focused around the natural cycles one would find in this area.


This is "The Invader," representing invasive species.


Rar!


I really don't remember what this one was called or really what it represents... but I think it's pretty cool nonetheless. I love the giant knitting needles.


And here's a little peek into fungi-town. These little 'hoods were built onto a good six or seven trees.



After Tryon Creek, we rode downhill the whole way home. :)

I was writing a really long catching-up type email to an old friend today, and trying to describe life in Portland. For brevity's sake, I boiled it down to a pretty broad top-five reasons I love it here. After I wrote it, I thought it might be something worth posting here.

I'm not even really sure how to describe life in Portland. "It's awesome" doesn't do it justice. Portland is kind of a place that needs to be absorbed, rather than just explained or described. Does that make sense? Every single day, there's another reason why I feel lucky to be here. Here are a few that come to the top of my head:

1. The people. This has got to be the friendliest city on the planet. On any given day, you may find yourself in a lengthy conversation with the grocery store cashier, or the couple sitting next to you at the bar, or another dog owner at the dog park, or somebody who accidentally dialed the wrong number and you picked up. Maybe it's the quality of life here that makes everyone happy, I dunno. But it's fun.

2. The food. I mean, duh. Paul and I have always been big foodies, and this is like the foodie mecca. There is SO MUCH to choose from. You would love it. Most everyone here really focuses on fresh, local, usually organic ingredients. There are big slow-food and farm-to-table movements here. Not to mention the abundance of beer and wine here to accompany the food. There are more breweries in Portland per capita than anywhere else in the world. And of course, we are only a 30-minute drive from the Willamette Valley, wine country of the NW.

3. The city itself. It's kind of like a miniature big city. Everything is in close proximity, and super easy to get to by foot, bike, bus, light rail, etc. I have my car here, but we have really only used it a handful of times in the last 6 months. We just don't need it. Actually, my lease on my car is up next month, and I'm going car-less after that. I can't wait... it's going to be liberating. And, there is this fantastic urban growth boundary in Portland. So no matter what, if you just drive 20 or 30 minutes out from the heart of the city, you are out of the city, and into a different world. You're just in... nature. There's the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood, Willamette Valley, the Pacific Ocean... just to name a few. And it's all so close.

4. The bicycle culture. It's huge here. Portland is regarded by many as the most bike-friendly city in the country. We've really gotten into the whole culture of it, since we've both gotten bikes. I ride my bike to work every day and I love it. Plus, there are tons and tons of trails and routes for just-for-fun bike rides with gorgeous views and interesting scenery.

5. The weather. We had an outdoor BBQ just two days ago. How awesome is that?? We had two really rough weeks of snow and ice in December, which was actually the worst winter here in the last 150 years, but it's been great other than that. Sure it's overcast most days, but I couldn't care less. Since November, the temps have been pretty much in the 40s or higher, with a little rain here and there. This week we enjoyed temps almost in the 60s. People here whine about the gray skies and rain the winter, but I think they have no idea how much worse it could be.

Have I mentioned I love it here?

Love,
Jenny

I love winter

I never thought I'd say that. Winter here effing rocks. Today we enjoyed a sunny 60 degree day... this is like late Spring back in MI! We didn't stray too far from home today though. We took Buckley out to the dog park in our neighborhood, called The Fields. Right now it's just a big field, but by the end of 2009 it's supposed to be a really nice park with an off-leash area, baseball diamonds, playground, etc.

This dog would fetch a tennis ball over and over until he collapsed, I'm sure.

Buckley made a new friend named Sparky, a pitbull-miniature poodle mix (strange mix, I know). Sparky was even faster than Buckley! Here's a little video of them playing fetch:

And a few more photos:




Since it was so nice out, we decided to take advantage of the grills and terrace in our building. I still can't believe we were having a cookout in the first week of February. Burgers, beer and chips... mmmmm.






After a few of these 9.5% ABV beers, we found ourselves in our apartment YouTubing 90s videos of Kris Kross, Bell Biv Devoe, Snoop and Dre, Boyz II Men, Color Me Badd... I even busted out some old dance moves! Roger Rabbits and MC Hammers and Funky Chickens and more. I'm sure the neighbors were loving it.

It was a fantastic day. We're looking forward to topping it off with a new episode of LOST, only 45 minutes away! Can't wait to see what's up with Widmore being an other...

The blog has been a little boring lately, for which I apologize. Up until yesterday, the weather has been tolerable but not fantastic, so we haven't been doing much. Not to mention the upcoming bar exam for Paul! In addition to working three days a week, he has been taking his barbri review course six days a week, 3-4 hours per day. Does not leave a ton of time for fun stuff. The exam is at the end of this month, so there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel! We are planning on some bike rides and hikes in the near future though, so I'll have some new material soon.

So, who's coming to visit in the spring??

Love,
Jenny

Doggie in a hoodie

Love,

Jenny

Sex and lies

Ooh, scandalous!

In case you haven't seen any of the numerous headlines (even on CNN), the brand spankin' new mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. Here is the nutshell version: Back in 2005, 45-year-old Adams (who is openly gay) allegedly had a brief sexual relationship with an 18-year-old legislative aide named Beau Breedlove. As Adams began his mayoral campaign in 2007, some speculations were raised as to the nature of his relationship to Breedlove. At the time, Adams denied such speculations - and convinced Breedlove to deny it as well. There is also some speculation to whether Breedlove was 17 or 18 when the relationship began (although both insist he was 18).

Earlier this week, the Willamette Week newspaper dug up some new information that all but confirmed the sexual nature of the relationship. Once this information came out, Adams immediately came clean, as did Breedlove. They admitted they in fact had been sleeping together in 2005, and flat-out lied about it in 2007 for fear that the public wouldn't believe that they waited until he was 18 (and, presumably, to protect his campaign). Whoa! This has now officially reached sex scandal status.

This is pretty big deal, considering Portland is the largest city to elect an openly gay mayor. A scandal like this erupting 20 days into his term does not. look. good.

Perhaps an even bigger story is how this news has absolutely divided this community. Many city officials, publications (including Just Out magazing, who recently named Adams their Man of the Year), and citizens have called for his immediate resignation; however an equal amount are urging him to stay in office. On one hand, this is the mayor's personal sex life we're talking about, not his politics; on the other hand, he lied to his public about it. Did he breach the trust this city has given him? Does his sex life have anything to do with his ability to do great things for Portland?

Since Breedlove was allegedly 18 when this all went down, the bottom line is, Adams didn't do anything "wrong" and certainly not anything illegal. Controvertial? Yes. Inappropriate? Mildly. Should he have lied about it? Definitely not. But, he's a human who made a mistake. I don't think the fact that he tried to cover up a past sexual escapade (Who hasn't?? Um, just kidding.) has anything to do with his politics. He has publicly and sincerely apologized - can we please move on? I personally cannot bring myself to give a crap about who the mayor denied sleeping with four years ago. It would be one thing if he was caught embezzeling city funds, or aiding terrorists, or running an underground prostitution ring... but he wasn't! So WHO CARES.

Anyway, I rode my bike by City Hall today and caught the beginning of a planned rally in support of Adams, organized by lots of bicyclists. I thought the signs were great, and it was good to see the large outpouring of support.





The mayor is supposed to be making his decision whether or not to resign within the next few days. I hope he doesn't let the haters get him down.

In happier news, here are some pics of a beautiful sunrise we had on Tuesday! Taken from our balcony.



And in other exciting (well, exciting to me) news, The Knot has chosen our wedding cake to be in their "Best Of" issue of their magazine! Anyone who has recently gotten married or engaged knows that The Knot has made itself the pinnacle of all things wedding. This is big, folks. :)

Have a look at this beauty:



I am so excited!! I feel a little silly for being so excited, but... oh well. I'm silly.

Love,
Jenny

Rocky Butte

We've had a glorious string of sunny 55 degree days this week. Retribution for Arctic Blast 2008 perhaps? In any case, eat your heart out Michiganders. :)

On Thursday we took our bikes out with our friends Nikolos and Jackie to enjoy the sunshine. We headed out to Rocky Butte, an extinct volcano that now is home to an incredible park.

This is the city from across the Steel Bridge, right by where we live.

In total, it's about 10 miles from our building to Rocky Butte... and that last mile is steep. Just a subtle reminder of how out of shape I am! When you get up to the top of the hill, there is this giant stone wall that encircles the top (that looks like, as Nikolos put it, Mr. Burns' house). Once you get up there, it's mountains in every direction! Here is Mt. Hood:

Walking around the top:

Mt. Hood again:

Jackie looking at Mt. St. Helens. On a really, really clear day, you could probably also see Mt. Rainier behind that.

Mt. St. Helens (left) and Mt. Adams (right):

See that teeny tiny clump of the buildings right in the middle of this picture? That's downtown. We rode our bikes that whole way! I was pretty proud of myself.

This little directory thingy sat on the top of the stone pillar, pointing to each mountain. I wasn't tall enough to get the whole thing.

It was really just breathtaking, not to mention humbling, to be up there. I felt very, very small. And hey, that's a good feeling. :)

I did not feel so small after the four of us rode our bikes to Apizza Scholls and killed two whole pies though. But, that is also a good feeling. It had been a little while, I almost forgot how amazing their pizza is!

Nothing terribly exciting going on here, I just wanted to share those photos. Paul has been busy studying for the bar exam, which is now only a little over a month away! Time is just flying by out here. Oh, and I got my window fixed yesterday. :) I hope the universe comes down on whoever cost me that time and money. Grrrrrr.

Love,

Jenny

Happy Birthday to Me

So I am the big 2-7 today. Yeah late twenties!

And guess what I got for my birthday this morning?

That's right, a rock through my car window! How very thoughtful. You shouldn't have. Really.

While it was a glorious way to start my birthday, turns out I wasn't the only one. Note the numerous piles of crumbled glass further up the curb as well. Some drunk idiot must have had himself a field day.

Here's Pauly, vaccuuming up the glass at 8am this morning:

My awesome ghetto ride now:

On the upside, the culprit did not try to steal anything. Just wanted to bust out some windows. Still, I feel... violated.

In happier news, as part of Paul's graduation celebration I took him to the Pistons vs. Trailblazers game at Rose Garden Arena on Wednesday. I was torn over who to root for... old home team, or new home team? I went with the Blazers. Glad I did. :)

The view from our seats:

A divided home :) (click on the picture to see it larger, if you can't read their signs):

This is also when the game started to get interesting. The Blazers had been behind for most of the game, but in the second half they came back big time. They kept going back and forth, one-upping each other by one point. The Blazers ended up winning by one point, with 8 seconds left in the game!

And believe me, the place got LOUD. I have a video of the last few seconds of the game, but I'm having some trouble uploading. I'll add it later.

I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier... the Sunday after Christmas, one of the Blazers came into the VQ for brunch! I just had to get a pic. Call me starstruck. This is #44, Channing Frye. He's gigantic.

Turns out he is quite the foodie, and the VQ is one of his favorites. A very exciting day indeed.

I'm off to enjoy (?) being 27. Thank you to everyone who has sent me wonderful birthday wishes. It makes up for my lousy birthday surprise. :)

Love,

Jenny