The One That I Should Have Written 3 Weeks Ago...

I know...I know...I know. Swear it.

In fact...just last week I finished writing a whole briefing doc for a client on best practices for blogging...and I broke the golden rule. Don't disappear or you will lose your readers. Lucky for me...I have about 3...and 1 of them I know still checks this thing because she asked me to write!! So shout out to her (you know who you are...) because I suppose that officially means I still have at least 33% of my readership still intact!!

But to be fair - I did warn you all...that summer time means slacker time (for me anyway)...and I'm on a teacher's watch - which truly means VA-CA-TION!!! and let's be honest, this weather...it's been all her fault.  We've been BFFs lately...boating, pooling, swimming, beaching, tanning, playing, walking, all while outsiding!!

Plus, she has been helping me grow a kick ass garden...(wait...can I say ass on here?) ...we have TONS of amazing things!! I'm really into it....in fact, I had this crazy idea the other day when I was driving (and for those of you who know me...well that is...know that when I get an idea...it's not unheard of that I might take it one step further than the average normal person...) so the idea was...what if a school planted a garden, and they had a class that was like called horticulture class or something...and they learned all about growing stuff, and cooking with fresh "things" and during class the kids had to tend to the garden, and they would have to water it, take care of it, weed it, harvest it...and then all the harvested goods would be used in the cafeteria for lunch - would it be possible to feed a whole school everyday from a garden? how big would that garden have to be?? Maybe it's the teacher in me...and the healthy food junkie...but I think that would be really kick ass....(yeah...I think I can say ass on here...I heard Nigel say it on SYTYCD tonight... if he can say it on prime time I'm ok with it here)...plus, unfortunately, my language isn't my most proudest of proud skills - so it is what it is.

Anyway, I've been trying my very hardest to cook from the garden, and well even bake from the garden! We have string beans, peas, tomatoes, beets, swiss chard, mint, peppers, zucchini, lettuce, squash, brussels sprouts, and my very most favorite...the carrots!! orange kind AND purple.
Here are some pictures...

Here are two loaves of zucchini bread that I made...thanks to Paula Deen's recipe...which is really great btw...I definitely recommend.  I made chocolate chip kind and regular.  The chocolate chip was of course my favorite.  (I'm not really even a huge chocolate fan...so I'm not sure why I said of course...but really, it was pretty outstanding.)

oh yeah!!! and the Pies!! I forgot...we also have a TON of fruit on this property!! If you've been to my house you know the whole lower acre is full of kiwi trees - it looks pretty much like a vineyard (that's what everyone thinks it is...) but really they are kiwis down there!  Aside from that we have several blueberry bushes (which made this homemade yummy, fresh-from-the-garden, pie!), apples, plums, and a pear tree!!!  The berries are the only thing ready right now...but I can't WAIT for fruit harvesting...wahoo!

Hmm...what else...I feel like there is so much to write about - because, well...it has been an entire month practically and every single day I have been doing stuff...like making yummy dinners and fun snacks for friends...Thank you pinterest for all of your fun ideas!! Like my watermelon lemonade (which was AMAZING...best thing ever.) I pretty much followed exactly the recipe, only I added 2 1/2 cups or so of fresh pureed watermelon.  Now I think if I were to do it again I might cheat and buy the lemonade already made...hand squeezing 2 cups of lemon juice and 1 cup of lime juice is a lot of freakin work!  Especially when it is 97 degrees (and probably more like 107 in my kitchen.)  But it was pretty worth it. So good!  We also had brushetta, tortellini skewers with pesto dip and chocolate dipped bananas! YUM.

There is so much more...and maybe someday here I will catch up...and do some posts on some things like my week at the beach or the day I went clothes shopping for my cousin's new baby girl (1 month till she gets born - I AM PUMPED!!) wait...actually you just have to see my favorite thing I got her...unreal.

baby swim suit...and those ruffles on the legs...please. TOO much. should the day ever come that I have a little girl...uh oh...bye bye money.

anyway...hopefully some day, some time I can play catch up. But until then I'll try to be better, or, at least stay current...get back on the train...afterall, what do they call these days? the dog ones? when summer starts to come to an end...I already see it...Daily Doubles starts on Monday...that means school is getting ready to kick back into gear -- wha???? does time just turn to warp speed once you cross the line of 25?  holy smokes I swear yesterday was May 1st...but apparently that was 3 1/2 months ago. whoa. well anyway, daily doubles means school...and school means schedules and routines and back to the grind. So usually when I am in my routine I am much better about staying on top of things like blogs.

I'll leave you on one last parting note...to round off this blog of a dozen things about nothing but random stuff...anyone need one last good book to end the summer with?? Cause I found one!!! If you're a fan of Hunger Games...that kind of addicting sci fi stuff that you can't put down and finish 500 pages in about 2 days...go buy Divergent, by Veronica Roth.

I read it in less than a week...and two nights ago bought the second one (it's a trilogy) called Insurgent.  I'm only about 70 pages in...but it's just as great so far. The only thing is...the third one isn't released. And normally I get lucky and don't find these types of books until half the world has read them and all of them have been released...so I can read the whole group just bam...bam...bam...like Hunger Games, Twilight, Harry Potter - I didn't read any of them till they were all out...so now, I'm about to learn what it's like to have to WAIT for a book to be released. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm pretty sure it's my lack of patience that lead to my cursing problem.

The One About The Glitter Room

I mulled over that title for a minute...because if anyone email-subscribes to this blog I am about 100% sure that it will end up in your spam folder.  But it was the title I liked the best so I decided, ehh, it's happening.

I think maybe it was about 4 weeks ago now...but my mom and I (and one of her friends) were down at the Milwaukie Farmers Market on a Sunday afternoon and on our way back to the car we ventured into, what has become, one of my new favorite spots.  I'm not even kidding!! It really is one of the best places!!

See, there is this amazing and adorable little chocolatier down there called Enchante.  I don't think they have a website...I think maybe they only have a Facebook - at any rate, it is maybe the cutest little chocolate shop ever.  She used to be in this little storefront but has since moved down the street about a block or so to a larger space.  In the mean time, her sister opened up this adorable craft store, it's called k.marie.  Here is a link to her blog.  It is THE best craft store I've ever been in to, it is just so inspiring!  And on top of that, she turned the back part of the store into a craft room! Hence, Glitter Room.  It is my new favorite place.  And I have spent the last few Saturday mornings in there creating the most amazing stuff!

Two weeks ago I made a jewelry box and last Saturday I made 3 greeting cards (all royal, queen and crown inspired!) - I just love that place!! not to mention, she always has the greatest little snacks and even last week her sister brought over a plate of (amazing) chocolates! Do I dare even say I'm not even that much of a chocolate lover? But I think I ate 3 of them.

Anyway, this is what it all looks like!

This was my little station when I first walked in for the jewelry box class.  Everything is individually set up and our little names are on our spots!  We have all of our supplies sitting there waiting for us (my favorite was obviously the glass of glitter - she seriously has the BEST glitter)...plus so cute and creative - there is an electrical strip that runs down the center of the table (you can kind of see it in that picture) but we all have individual mini glue guns that we can just plug in right there!! such a smart idea!! I just love everything about it! Here are some pictures of around the Glitter Room.  This is the snack area!

 and this was the coffee table...I didn't take pictures of the coffee (I should have! It is always set up so cute!) but those little caramels, um...SOO good.

 just a few of the little areas of crafts and decor...

and this mirror!!! I know it is hard to read BUT I think maybe the best mirror I have ever seen, in my life.  I literally started laughing when I read it...can you see what it says?? "mirror...mirror...what the @#$&???" too good.

My final piece!!!! It's just so romantical looking!! I love it. It sits on my vintage-y desk in my room and it just makes me smile!

 this is a quick pic from the street of what the little store front looks like.

 Here is my set up from last weekend -- card making class.

I realized when I got home that I didn't even take any pictures of my final products! Just snaps along the way...but then I thought eehh...that's ok because in case any of you receive any of these cards, you will be surprised and not all like yeah thanks I saw this already...Anyway, LOVE this place.

Unfortunately, I think it has inspired me to start another project restoration...this time of (what we call) the media room...It's a little room right off of our family room, that leads out to a side patio where the hot tub is.  It has served as many things in it's day.  A tv room when we were little, turned arts & crafts room, turned homework room with computer (in jr. high and high school), turned kind of like an unused storage room of all things random that don't quite have a place....anyway, I'm finally nearly done with project restoration bonus room...I think craft room will be next?? Uh oh...

The One With Fireworks & Stuff

It was almost a week ago...I know. But remember about how it's summer and we are on like a serious sunshine streak? (This is rare for Portland!!) - I don't do my best blogging when it's nice and sunny like this.

Anyway...the official 4th of July post!! And I have to say, it was pretty fantastic this year.  4th of July really is one of my favorite holidays!! I'm a firework lover. Always have been...probably always will be.  Pretty sure the highlight of my summer was waiting for our annual Shepherd 4th of July Party (we don't do it anymore...I think it died out when we got to high school...) BUT it was the 2nd biggest party of the year (behind our Shepherd family Christmas party - which is still going strong btw!).  I think I would plot for about 3 1/2 weeks on where I would set my pop-it booby traps around the yard, driveway and house...afterall, it's pretty sneaky to line a row of them across the front mat (of course, only on the white stars so they would blend in) - you know, so when people would walk in the door it would be all like "SNAP" POP" "CRAKLE!" and they would be all like wtf?? I just walked across fireworks!  I was a rebel. I know...

Anyway the weather is almost always perfect...and pretty much it just involves 3 of my favorite things...food, fireworks, & friends!

The day started with a little LODT fun - as per tradition, I always make the girls show up in red, white & blue attire. This year I added a little extra challenge - fancy painted nails got a red, white and blue sparkle star crown.

I even brought a round of sparklers... ;) we work hard, but trust me...we're also good at having fun!

Early afternoon I went down to Happy Valley Park - it's sort of been a tradition ever since I can remember...a day of activities and a big show of fireworks at dusk.  It has grown to be quite the extravaganza over the years...it's HUGE now.  Lots of booths, food, kid's blow up bouncy things like castles and slides and there are huge rock climbing walls, rides...they even added a beer garden this year...but I couldn't help myself...I chose a shaved ice instead. It was like a million degrees and it sounded bomb.  Don't worry I ate the whole thing and it was even better tasting than it looked.

After park activities I drove over to Southwest Portland and joined the crew!! Talk about awesomeness...and fun!

SO much food!! The boys grilled...I ate two hot dogs. Gross, but so good. probably two of these also...but counting isn't allowed on holidays so it was legal.

there were salads and chips and fruit and veggies (see not all bad...), and also LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF THESE!!!

I brought over what I thought was a ton (bottle rockets, mortars, roman candles, tons of random little ariel things, pop its, fountains)...but then David brought over a huge bag of them also. So that made even MORE.  And see David fortunately lives in Vancouver...and bought this lucky deal he found on like Sharing Spree or Groupon or one of those things...a grab bag of fireworks for $20 (with a $67 or something dollar value).  It was money well spent let me tell you!! Mortars, and roman candles, and other random things that shot in the air, ground blooms, smoke bombs, and fountains...And then to top it off...another party guest pulled out a huge box of tricks from his trunk.  And by huge I'm talking like HU-GEEE. with like REAL firecrackers and loud stuff. Like Indian Reservation stuff...double mortars and crazy rocket shooting things...I'm a pyro...and this was even out of my league!! But I still loved it (I maybe just watched those from a distance)

Hayley and I spent pretty much 6 of 7 hours straight lighting off fireworks. We were really into it.  and you know us...when we get into something we become obsessed.

 
even to the point of holding lit smoke bombs and spelling stuff...can you read it??

oh hey griffy!! and this is Kelly's dog.  He lives at the blue house. I didn't get a picture but they had 2 others over for the festivities! All in their matching dog bandanas.  Yeah you read that right 3 BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS!! At one party.  They rocked.

and to top off the night...from the deck we had the most incredible view of all of Portland AND Vancouver.  Talk about a view of unreal fireworks...plus we got to see Fort Vancouver's AND the Waterfront's.

Cheer's to another year America!! All and all, we are one lucky nation in this world of ours. Happy Birthday!

The One Where I Turned An Old Mirror Into a Chalkboard

So I've decided summer time is an overly ambitious time to try and start a blog.  I've noticed that a lot of the regular blogs I like to read really slow down this time of year...so of course it makes total sense that I would try and get in the habit of it now. At any rate, I'm not giving up - so for the 3 of you who are kind enough to actually come back and check my site on a somewhat-regular-basis thank you for being patient and I ask you to please not judge me too harshly or give up on me during the next two months.

See, the thing is, Portland has this way of only liking to be continuously sunny for about one month (sometimes two...with a week of showers in between) per year... the rest of the time you get a break here and there (which undoubtedly are perfectly gorgeous - I always say...that when it's beautiful in Portland, there really is no better place to be) but mostly us Oregonians are in the habit of waiting...and waiting...and waiting some more...for the sun.  And it's pretty much like clock work - I always think it's going to be great starting in May (we usually get some random nice week in there that makes everyone overly hopeful that THIS will be the year it will be sunny for longer) and then it goes back to rain...and then by the grace of God 4th of July hits and it turns perfect for that month (or two).  So anyway, it's that time of year now...which means I have about 14 back-logged things to blog about...but rather than sitting down to actually catch up, I just keep going out and doing more things.

Anyway, I'll catch up eventually.

In fact, my goal is to write a few right now...we'll see how long I last.  I'm not typing this inside, obviously - I'm sitting outside on a lawn chair tanning - multi-tasking, of course...It's what I do best.

Anyway - I wanted to share my latest pinterest craft!  As you know (because I mention it in almost every post - you're probably all like yeah yeah we get it...and are you ever even going to finish that thing? Well remember how it's sunny out - and also that bonus room is huge...) at any rate, one of the things on this past week's agenda was for my mom to go through a rather large stack of old pictures, frames, mirrors, basically just a big pile of wall hanging "stuff"...I envisioned us getting rid of almost all of it...but then as we started going through it we decided on only getting rid of like 2 or 3 things and that instead I should do some refurbishing on most of them.  So that's what I'm doing!! Just add that to the list of projects, crafts and to-dos...

So alas, refurbish wall hanging task #1 of 12....Old mirror turned vintage chalk board!!!

I went to Home Depot to purchase paint -
I picked out the chalk board paint I wanted (who knew there were so many options!! Spray on kind, kind that you can tint colors, etc...)
I picked paint-on black - just the basic original.

And for the boarder of the mirror I wanted something that would be really light and vintage looking...I decided on BEIR - Vienna Lace.  I saw a commercial on BEIR paint recently that advertised it being an all-in-one paint...meaning primer included...I'm in!!

Here is a quick snap shot of all my goodies pre-project.

Here is a quick run down of what I did:

1.  I painted a first coat on the frame (free hand - no taping) -- that meant I got a little paint on the mirror but because I was painting over it with chalk board paint I didn't worry about it.
2.  Let that dry and painted a second coat on it.
3. Once the second coat dried I used blue masking tape and taped one long strip all the way around that inner edge of the frame - that way when I painted the mirror it wouldn't get on the inside part of the frame.
4. I painted a first coat of chalk board paint all over the mirror and let that dry.
5. I painted a second coat of chalk board paint on the mirror. 
6. Once it was dry I pealed off the tape (a helpful tip - do this very slow and carefully...the chalk board paint peals off easily if the tape lifts it...) and DONE!

Of course I immediately had to go grab my chalk and test it out...so fun and so cute!!!  It was hanging up on the wall within minutes of being finished and I absolutely love it!!

The One With the Results

Ok...results are in...and I'm sorry to report that I won't be joining any olympic teams any time soon. Apparently 10 seconds to run the 100M is actually really difficult. And sister was right...I must have been counting slow...

Tested out the theory on my girls this am...here is the dash in pictures.

13.4 seconds.  But if you look close you will notice the leader is in uggs...plus I didn't give them much time to stretch...there was zero warm up, prep, training, proper breakfast. So of course...my well-trained-to-be-competitve-athletes finish the sprint and say...
"WAIT! Let's do this again next week - everyone make sure and bring your running shoes."

So next week. Same time. Same place.

They only need to shed 3.4 seconds off of their time and they will be like world record holders or something. Make sure you say that you heard it hear first.

And the only entry requirement is that all racers must be wearing one (or a combination) of these three colors: blue, white, red. Because that's what you call killing two birds with one stone people - when one of my Lake Oswego dancers breaks the world record she'll be in school colors...plus also, it's 4th of July practice tradition. Duh.

The One About Some Old Notes I Found...

So first off, still don't have a time to report. You know, the one about the 100M sprint and how fast I can run it in?

But I do fitness with my girls tomorrow (the LO girls) so if the track is open (we are getting a new turf installed so it's been hit and miss on when it's open) that's first on the agenda for the morning. So again - stay tuned...

But, in the mean time...I found something I wanted to share.  It actually made me laugh so I thought it would be wroth posting.  I was digging through my old emails to see if I could try and find a TV pitch I sent out a long time ago...that's a bummer thing about when your old work email accounts get deactivated, you lose LOTS of old thing that you spent hours and hours working on...who knew I would actually want to have it again some day though!?  Anyway...I came across this old blog post of mine from a long time ago.

When I used to be a bit more free-sprited with my writing...used a few profanities (sometimes I think they just make writing funnier...but I try to refrain these days...you know, I am 27 so I'm trying to act my age and all...) but these are a reflection of my 22 year-old self...I went through this little phase where I tweeted messages to things. I may integrate that back in to my twitter repertoire ...Sometimes it's just better to write notes to stuff.

Anyway, here are some old anecdotes I came across:

Dear sun, remember last weekends hen you were pretty? Could you come back so I'm not so freezing and grumpy? Cordially, Kendall

Dear work computer, could you not be so old and slow so I can get my work done better? Annoyingly, Kendall
ps - Internet Explorer, mostly I mean you...and your illegal operations. Thnx.

Dear lips, I know it's not as sunny this week as last week and it's a little more cold and freezing, but could you please not be so chapped all of the time? Painfully, Kendall

Dear boys, I'm not sure if it's you or your cell phones, but if one or the other of you could start working better probably I wouldn't be so annoyed, Fondly, Kendall.

Dear Sister, you are hilarious and thanks for always letting me vent to you about life. You make shit more fun, xo, sister.

Dear cute new blue house, I love you and have been looking for you for a long time. Love, Kendall

Dear phone, sometimes people make fun of us for being so obsessed with each other, don't let other's opinions change you.  You are amazing and without you, mostly I get bored. Hugs, Kendall

Dear to-do-list, sometimes it's ok not to grow longer after I check something off of you...From Kendall

Dear laundry, I have work for 9 hours today...it would be nice if you could be picked up and folded when I get home...I get tired of seeing you on the floor everyday, learn about responsibilities and quit being lazy. Gross, Kendall

That's all. I do find it amusing however that 4 1/2 years later I could have written over half of those things today...you should see the laundry on my closet floor, and I just put chap-stick on 45 seconds ago.

The One About The 100M Sprint

Ok...so I'm attempting the "short blog"- in fact, I'm actually even writing this from my blogger app I downloaded on my phone! Kind of loving how easy it is!

We are watching track & field Olympic trials- I am such a huge fan of the Olympics...always have been....especially summer! Gymnasticsss!! Ahh my favorite.

Anyway we're currently watching the 100M sprint semi-finals right now...our living room conversation went something like this.

"I probably could do ok running the 100M sprint...it's short"- me.
"Kind of...it probably is actually hard to sprint that though"-sister.
"Wait he just did that in 10 seconds I bet I could do that in 10 seconds...just that one short stretch?"-me.
"Kendall...no. These are like Olympic runners no way could you run that in 10 seconds"-sister.
"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10..."(counting to 10) -me.
"Ok first of all have you seen yourself run... And second of all you counted that way too slow, that was like 20 seconds"-sister.

Whatever...I'm trying it. Just to see. I'll report back.