That Jolie Girl

Wedding in Missoula

 

Last Saturday, I got to see two friends get married.  You can read more about my adventures in Montana on my walking blog.   I was thrilled that I got to be part of their celebration.  It's obvious that these two were meant for each other and it was easy to toast to their future happiness. 

 

 

My friends married at a vineyard outside of Missoula.  The grounds were gorgeous.  The ceremony was quirky, but filled with love.  I especially liked the part where the groom told the bride that it was so easy to love her and because of that, he knew they would spend the rest of their lives together.  At the end of the ceremony, they jumped over a broom together.  

 

 

This is what the sky looked like as we were waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle.  The forecast said that there was a 90% chance of rain this day.  It had poured all morning long, but luckily it was dry and beautiful for this outdoor wedding.  

 

We had many wedding crashers.  4 deer were very tame and knew that good food was close by.  They kept wandering closer and closer.  I loved seeing them and spent some time trying to take their pictures.  

 

This distraction was also perfect for me during all of the mingling time before and after the wedding.  Those situations can be hard for me, so whenever I felt like I had enough, I would wander off to find the deer.  It kept me from getting overwhelmed.   

 

The food was delicious!  They served cassoulet from a wheelbarrow and we also had duck and salad.   It was down home gourmet and the grapes on the tables were beautiful.

 

I love weddings because there is always time to reflect on my own life and my own wedding.  My wedding was really the best day of my life and it's fun to think about all the things we did and the friends and family we had to celebrate with us.   

 

 

After dinner, there was a large bonfire.  This was so nice because the temperature dropped pretty quickly and the fire was perfect.  

 

 

 After awhile, the fire kept growing and growing.  I love taking pictures of it and caught some really weird images such as this picture that looks like a man of fire.  

 

 After the wedding, we all headed downtown to watch the groom play bass with his band.  It was the perfect way to end this wonderful day.

 

Sirens of Titan

 

Yay!  I finally made it to the end of my summer long book project!  I actually did finish reading the 10 books by Labor Day, but it's taken me awhile to blog about them all.  I didn't really have an order in which to read the books on this list.  I made that decision when it was time to start a new book.  But, I reserved Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut for last.  I am a huge Vonnegut fan and this is the 9th novel I've read of his.  I wanted to have a little reward at the end of my reading and this was just perfect.

 

 

It's hard to sum any book of Vonnegut's because there is always so much detail and so many different things going on which is why Hollywood can't seem to make a cohesive movie from any of his books.  This book has space travel and takes place during different times, and so on.  The end is mind blowing and you don't see it coming.  

 

 

 If you haven't read Vonnegut, you should.  His unique perspective on life and fiction is refreshing.  Every book I've read is wildly funny, but also touches on real social issues that make you think.  His less than subtle comedic touches are everywhere.  In the picture above has the standard clause about how nothing in the book is based on real life.  

 

 

Yet, on the dedication page, Vonnegut states that everything in the book is real.  

 

 

This book furthered my appreciation of his genius and makes me want to finish reading his entire bibliography as soon as possible.

 

 

 I'm so glad I ended this series on a less than serious note.  Out of the 10 books I read, most were very heavy and dealt with serious concerns.  I immensely enjoyed 4 out of the 10 books and will keep those on my bookshelf to re-read in the future.  5 were good and I'm glad I read them.  Of Human Bondage stands out as the only book I didn't like.  I think this was a great project, but I've been so glad to get back to reading whatever happens to fall in my hands at that moment in time.

Of Human Bondage

 

I had mistakenly thought that Atlas Shrugged was the 9th book in my summer book project, only to realize that it was actually my 8th book.  I should have taken that as an omen then.  I also didn't realize that my copy of Of Human Bondage was abridged - something I adamantly try to avoid.  That should have been my second sign.  But I was fully committed to my book project and dived into Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

 

 

To be quite frank, I didn't not find this book to be "the greatest novel of our time".  When I told a friend that I was reading this, she instantly made a funny face and said she didn't like to read whiny books.  Yep, another sign.  But I mustered through and finished this book even though I knew early on that I didn't like it.  It was the tale of one very whiny man making weird choices.  The kind of decisions that have you screaming at the TV, don't go in that dark basement! 

 

 I'm glad this book had a therapeutic quality for the author which was loosely based on his life.  I'm also glad I didn't have to read the unabridged version which would have prolonged my misery.

 

Written in 1915, I can understand that this book would have created a sensation when first published and again when my edition was published since the narrator often interacts with prostitutes, starving artists, and other unsavory characters.

 

 

When I first discovered that the last page was torn, I had grandiose ideas of seeking out another copy to read the last few words.  But when I got the end, I was so over this book that I just didn't want to make the effort.  

National Book Award Finalists - Announced in Oregon

  


I've always had a strong love for the National Book Award.  Being an English major, I try to read award winning literature as much as I can.  While I've had some luck with the Pulitzer, Man Booker, etc winners I find, more often than not, that I'm disappointed with those books.  The National Book Award winners almost never let me down. 

 

I made a personal goal a few years ago to read every National Book Award for Fiction winners and finalists.  I keep a spreadsheet of these books in my purse and I'm constantly on the hunt when I'm at Goodwill.  I get a small jolt of excitement when I stumble across their emblem.

 

The 2011 National Book Award Finalists were announced today.  And they were announced in Portland, OR on Oregon Public Broadcasting.  Hurrah!  They have never been announced in Oregon before.  How exciting!

 

2011 Portland Marathon and My Mom-in-Law

 

Once again, I found myself downtown for the Portland Marathon.  My mom-in-law decided, after completing the Eugene half marathon last May, that she'd like to run/walk the Portland Marathon.  She convinced my husband to join her and she diligently trained for this competition.

 

 

This is the 3rd year in a row that I've helped friends and/or family with the marathon.  There is something so exciting about being downtown in the early morning with thousands of people preparing to race.  The energy is contagious and for one split second, at the start of the race, I was sad that I wasn't joining my mom-in-law.  

 

That moment quickly passed as I made my way down to Naito Parkway and saw runners already looping back to downtown knowing they still had about 20 miles to go.  It was great to cheer people on; I loved seeing all the signs of support.

 

 

I was able to see my mom-in-law and husband pass by when I was on the Hawthorne bridge making my way back to my car.  Since they were run/walking the race, I had time to return home and get a couple hours of precious sleep while they raced.

 

I met my sis-in-law and her kids on my way back downtown.  My mom-in-law was using her RunKeeper app during the race and I had the luxury of watching her progress in real time.  This made the marathon much easier on us, spectators.  We could gauge how quickly we needed to be at the finish line.  Once there, we didn't have to be watching the finish line intently hoping we didn't miss them crossing.  I knew exactly when they would be turning onto 3rd Ave about 4 blocks from the finish line.  This gave us the freedom to hang out with the kids and I even took some self-portraits.

 

 

I was a bit worried knowing that the Occupy Portland folks were camped right at the finish line.  They had come to an agreement with the city and marathon organizers.   I really appreciated the cooperation on everyone part.  I'm glad that folks, like my mom-in-law, who had trained and prepared for almost a year didn't have any problems on race day.

 

Here is my mom-in-law receiving her medal for finishing the race.  I'm so proud of her!  She worked so hard to achieve this goal and I know it's something that I could never do.  Her dedication to racing is what has motivated me to complete the Eugene Half last May and I'm already signed up for the Rock and Roll Half next May.  She is such a huge inspiration to me.

 

My Sis Turned 40!

 

My sis turned 40 at the end of September. Her best friend and I threw my sis a party last Saturday to celebrate the beginning of this new decade.  My sis requested a special cocktail that she had tried on her last visit to NYC called Bee's Kiss.  I had never heard of this drink, but was happy to comply to her wishes.  I had found many recipes online and went with the version below.  

Bee's Kiss:

• 1 shot light rum
• 1 shot dark rum
• 1 shot cream
• 1 shot honey syrup
• Shaken and served in a martini glass topped with nutmeg

Several recipes called for honey and some called for honey syrup.  I decided to go with honey syrup to make mixing at the party easier.  I strongly encourage you to take this extra simple step.  I made my syrup with 3 parts honey and 1 part water that I heated on the stove until thoroughly mixed; this took about 5 minutes from start to finish. The cocktail was a huge hit and I spent much of the evening making them.  When I ran out of the syrup, I moved to straight honey and had nothing, but problems.  First, it didn't mix well, so the drinks didn't taste as good.  I found that I kept adding more and more honey which just clumped together in the shaker.  Then there was the sticky factor which became annoying fast.  Trust me, make the syrup. 

 

 

The fanciest appetizer I made was pear, goat cheese and caramelized onions wrapped in prosciutto and baked for about 8 minutes.  You can find the recipe here.  They were so delicious and not that hard to make.  I would definitely make this again.

 

 

At the last I Heart Art: Mixer Match, I saw this simple, yet elegant appetizer of cherry tomatoes, marinated mozzarella balls and basil on a toothpick. I splurged and bought fancy toothpicks at Cost Plus.  I cut a miniature watermelon in half and stuck all of the toothpicks into the watermelon.  It looked super fancy and took all of 10 minutes to create.  

 

Once I had one appetizer on a stick, I figured that I could create an easy theme and run with the whole stick idea.  I used the other half of the watermelon and created fruit salad on skewers.  Again, it doesn't get much easier than this.  There were many kids at this party and they loved eating food on a stick.  

 

 

This was my first attempt at artichoke spinach dip and it was gone by the end of the night.  I used this recipe and followed the suggestions in the comments.  

 

 

I made a huge vat of guacamole because my sis loves it so.  My co-host provided homemade salsa and chips as well as many other goodies.  It was a well rounded table and folks raved about the food.  It was teamwork at it's finest.  

 

 

A good friend of my sis insisted on making the birthday cake.  She previously made my sis' wedding cake and several incredible cakes for various celebrations.  I think she out did herself for this party creating this amazing 15" round 3 layered chocolate cake complete with fresh roses, iridescent frosting and chocolate butterflies that she made.  It was stunning and so large that my sis will be eating cake for months.  

 

 

It was a great night filled with family and friends.  There were musical instruments and games on hand for kids and adults alike.  I even won a game of bingo!  

 

 

Two weeks earlier, my husband and I took my sis and her best friend to happy hour at ClarkLewis (great happy hour).  Afterwards, we saw Duran Duran at the Rose Garden.  I got to fulfill a childhood dream of mine.  They were my very favorite band and they put on a great show.  They played Rio as their encore and everyone sang along. It was a perfect night and I'm so glad I got to share it with my sis.