Nordstroms 1/2 Yearly Sale....

T-R-O-U-B-L-E... thats what going to nordstroms was....

Ok, so I knew I shouldn't go. But I wanted a new wallet for my birthday, and the birthday check from the parentals came in the mail. I went the day before it started and poked around, found out that there was going to be some Hobo wallets involved with the sale... so I 'HAD' to come back, right?!?!

I have had my current wallet possibly for 10 years now... it was time...

I actually ended up with this wallet from Hobo... honestly b/c the one I wanted was Patten leather, and I just don't care for it, it seems cheap and cheesy to me, don't like it on anything, sorry... just can't bring myself to like it.

It is a bit funky b/c the change wallet is on the bottom... but I love that my phone fits in it and its got a sweet black and white flower pattern inside, works as a clutch this way, and is a little smaller then the big one I wanted... I have heard great things about Hobo wallets, so lets see if this one can last as long as the last ones (I also came to the conclusion its been awhile since I went wallet shopping since mine had a broken zipper and I was on the hunt to try and find one that has a place for a checkbook.... the sales lady said they had 1 wallet in the whole store that had an actually place for one *hand to face)

I also ended up trying on far to many clothes, but limited the purchases to 1 pair of nice jeans (love the fact they hem for free when you buy jeans there, and with the 1/2 yearly sale, it makes it manage-able)
A pair of Hudson's, that are currently about 8 inches too long : )

A nike running top, thats extra long and half cotton/half their dri fit fabric... and has a black and white pattern on it..

And a nice blouse/shirt from Danial Rainn in Sapphire blue.

Birthday is officially over... oh and the car is paid off, so really this was in celebration of both... next months car payment... pays for this shopping splurg and a bit more... and I was good and didn't get any shoes.... although I am drolling over getting a pair of Cole Haan simple black peep toe pumps....

love the bit thicker heel (couldn't find a picture of one with it, but its great, promise) , and with the air nike technology in them.... soooo sooo comfy... but first I need a place to wear them, and a job to pay for them... then they will be mine... I foresee that being the start of a troubling but comfortable foot/shoe relationship.

Yeah I think your cute, but clearly you should know I just came to say hellooo....

KC II (Kristopher, in contrast to KC I - Kristen) has me hooked on this song (see title) Hello by Martin Solveig & Dragonette. I just downloaded it earlier, and already have played it 14 times over... terribly addicting.

Anyhow, I had a wonderful 25th birthday, probably had way too much money spent on me/by me, but isn't that what birthdays are for??

Me and KC II went to Bend to hang out with KC I and Tyler. Lots of great food, wonderfully amazing company and a relaxing wonderful weekend of not doing much, getting dolled up and going out and enjoying and celebrating. I now realize outfit pictures were not taken, nor where many pictures at all. Clearly a sign of a good weekend. Here are the few that are here...

Charles & Charles wine with dinner was amazing btw... you should check it out for sure if you enjoy a red blend.

I tell you he's 33 going on 13, and he strictly told me not to put these pictures up.. whoops 

We got some basil and tomato and chives while there and brought them back to Portland to attempt to grow on our balcony area. We are on the North side of the building so we have been debating if it will work or not, but we keep seeing all these veggie and herb plants all over town and just had to give it a shot... so I was a dork and documented the planting of them, of course.

The tomatoes went in this hanging contraption that they grow out of the bottom from... only problem is watering the sucker from above : )

Nothing is dead yet and its been about a week, actually the basil is doing great, the chives are starting to perk up and the tomato seems to be getting use to being turned on its head.

In other news there is quite the prospective life changer happening. The company I interviewed with back before graduating, think 2 years back... (shit, has it been that long already??!?!) called me again, and we are negotiating money, well they asked what I was looking for, and they seem much much more serious this time then last year when he called me up to see what I was up to and I never heard back from him.... 

Anyhow, I am trying to figure out what it would take for me to make the move to Irvine, considering the boy and all. He has 10 more months before he graduates, and although he wants out of Portland, he can't leave before then, and he is still trying to fully decide if he is going to go active military after that (will be commissioning as an officer for sure though) This being said, he will be gone a combined 6 months out of the next year, with the possibility of being deployed for up to a year after that... makes this fun. 

I will keep you all posted, as I have said before with this conversation, Irvine isn't ideal for me, but there are many many worse places to be, say Barstow or Blyth. If they get close to what I asked them for (which I thought they would completely laugh at, but they didn't) it will be possible to travel up to Portland 2X a month roughly. Combined with KC II's drill and FTX weekends and school, I am guessing this would work out to the open free weekends he would have. The company in Irvine has a 4 1/2 day work week (4 9 hour days and a 4 hour friday) which lends itself to being able to travel back and forth a bit earlier. Also Long Beach airport has some cheap jetblue flights back and forth with Portland... it could be done... I just don't know if we can do it... like actually do it, rather than talk about it. 

Talking about it has been an on going, not so thrilled, but understanding conversation. Which seems promising, but we haven't gotten down to the how would it work part. We have just to the understanding that I have to consider it. That I am absolutely utterly insane if I don't give this opp. a serious consideration. That life has finally settled and we are happy and in love. I am working days at work, and have evenings and dinner time with him.

I love Portland though, and Oregon. And life right now is good... This would make career life better and way more promising, and make the financial bit of my life stable and successful, but I know that isn't everything... 

I want my cake and to eat it too. I know I am a tough cookie and could do it, but the cake has to want to make it work too, you follow???

What do to with life.

This quarter life crisis... I am over it..

Seriously, I just want to know what to do. There is no instruction booklet and I am struggling. I want to know what to do...

A. go to grad school.

B. Continue to apply for jobs in my field and hope it works out eventually, meanwhile getting beat up by angry children.

C. Change jobs and work in a coffee shop, retail store, etc and see if that makes me happy til I figure something else out.

D. Get my real estate license. I have wanted to do this on and on for awhile, but really requires a decent commitment to location.

E. Join the military, my dad has always encouraged it, and it could solve a lot of problems, aka - job, pay for school, pay for loans, give me direction. Although doesn't allow me to pick location - I seem to struggle with this anyways, but swore off letting the military move me every 3 or so years after doing it with my dad ( I have failed to stay in one place more then 3 years since).

to go or not to go...

I should get up and go to yoga, but I have a slight headache and tuesday I went and came back with a headache that pounded the rest of the day.... hmmm

The exciting news is that the Groupon this weekend was for 20 sessions of Bikram Yoga for $20! a steal... its got a 60 day time limit... so about 2 times a week... I will start going regularly... as soon as I don't feel aweful going into it...

lame.

Wonderful weekend

The sun has finally decided to shine this weekend and had perfect timing for Karen's 50K for her 50th birthday! Went out to Karens parents house in Hillsboro to hang out and catch up over dinner which was fabulous and much needed after our busy lives have sabotaged regular phone calls since me moving up to Portland. Where able to review pictures from her trip to Hawaii in Feb and show the pictures from the wedding and catch up on everything else going on in our lives.

Kristen came to town from Bend which made it extra fun as well. So wonderful to have her around for a few days, even though its never enough, we are continuing to develop a schema to move me to bend eventually, and work on a visit sooner.

*At the 15 miles mark/turn around point*

9 miles of walking around Forest Park in conjunction with Karens 50K Fat Ass Birthday run, with KC I and II (bf is a KC too) and boyfriends friend Pedro resulted in the same 5 conversations being had over and over again, but some good witted humor and poking fun of. And the sun shining made everyone enjoy it that much more. Oh and Ruby (the pup) joined as well.

Karen completed her 50K and we had a l-iner at the Oak Creek McMenamins Brew Pub and then completed the evening with a nap, showers, and Adult Mac and Cheese and Steaks cooked on the Tregar Grill.

A long day interrupted by a minor medicine mis-hap (conclusion of the story - always remark medicine bottles if something different is in it then the label says, even if you live alone or with one other person, and always ask about med's when you are a friends house looking for ibuprofen : ) )  but everyone is ok and survived.

In other news, looks like I should be able to move to the 7-5 Sun-Tuesday position at work, which should make everything and everyone a bit happier. No getting home at 11:30 pm and needing an hour to un-wind. Normal dinner times, and the potential to attend planning meetings and network more for a real planning job. Also still maintaining full time status and benefits at work, and the ability to pick up an additional shift to keep my 40 hours. Paperwork is being done and the last few that need to be talked to to make the switch happen is occurring, could be as early as next week! Excellent.

I hope you are all doing well, feeling healthy, and getting some of the sunshine and warmth that seems to be on the verge of spring/summer.

Any ideas of what I should do for my birthday??... 26 days and counting.

Oh and I found a few pictures of Kristen's 10K from Run with the Roses a few weekends ago here in Portland, so here are those!

what happens when you have nothing to do but shop....

I had a great day shopping, probably spent to much, but hit up REI, and the outlets including finding a new black purse at Kenneth Cole, a killer jean deal there as well and 41% of everything in the store!, And a sweet summer dress at Banana Republic.

Salomon skort for running -$32

love the material being spandex-y, the other side has a ruche thing going on too, way cute and sporty 

Ultimate Direction water bottle/hand held - $18

Finally broke down and bought one

Kenneth Cole Skinny Jeans (major win) - $17!! (normally $79)

Kenneth Cole New York, Tote  Handbag - $94 (normally $249)

(In addition they had $20 off a purchase of $100 or more, so the jeans are pretty much free, go me!

This dress but in black and white/grayish from Banana Republic - $25

So I am done for my birthday, between this and the money spent at Columbia last week when I got back from vacation I should be done... haha, right... well I will try.. my birthday is soon enough anyways, we can call some of this birthday stuff right?

Vacation, and back to beautiful Portland

Helloo... I have tons of pictures from the recent trip to So Cal for my sisters wedding. It was beautiful, and the boyfriend did an A +++ job with the family, and I do mean the whole family. They loved him, and I knew I would hear about "when are you getting married heather" weather he was there or not... we even got through those comments.
The important parts are that the family love him, he liked them. The wedding was beautiful, the boy finally went to Disneyland, and we had one day of somewhat relaxing occurring : ) as a vacation/wedding trip should be... enjoy the pictures...

my Sister and new Brother-in-law during their first dance

Kristopher picking lemons for the first time ever

 Grandpa Bill doing rope tricks

Kristopher hugging a palm tree

Relaxing on the beach

California Adventure 

Soaking up some sun after breakfast

A great trip, but too quick for sure. 

oh and I can not wait for summer to arrive here in Portland, we have had 2 days with 60 degree weather, its been amazing, I mean AMAZING. I love the place more every day : )

In other news, I have moved in with Kristopher, kind of a big step, kind of made sense as I was here all the time anyways, getting stressed about not having my stuff where I am at, and not being able to help pay rent where I am spending my time, and spending a lot of money to store my stuff at a place I am not at. So far so good, my stuff fits, and while its fuller then it was before, it feels more comfortable I think, and works.

We are happy, and I feel secure in the relationship, and where its going, and the communication and patience is there.

I am still applying and looking and wanting a job back in planning, the boy is taking a class in planning this coming quarter, and just looking at his textbooks makes me jittery and goggly over it... soon enough right? soon enough....

Hope all is well in all of your lives, I am keeping up reading yours, even if I am failing at continuing to keep up to date on mine : )