Windows Are Rolled Down

31. January 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

(I am humbled to admit that the Food Lovers Cleanse became an afterthought last week.  I didn’t have the time, energy, or money to keep up so I just put the kibosh on it.  So much for all the hype, huh?)

Let me paint a picture for you:

January.  Grey.  Wet.  Dark. MISERABLE.  Depressing.  Cold.  Least favorite month of the year.  I’ve been working on weekends, commuting into Portland 6 days a week, trying to find any reprieve I can and rest in the meantime.  Everyone in Oregon feels the weight on January and it shows.  I blame January for every Trail Blazers loss too.

Let me paint you another picture:

I live 10 minutes from the Dundee Hills of Oregon wine country.  It usually looks like this in January:

But on Saturday, it looked more like this:

It was just the sunny day we needed.  I had the south-facing windows open in my apartment with Amos Lee’s new song “Windows Are Rolled Down” stuck in my head and a smile on my face (that smile was partially due to the fact that I was vacuuming the baseboards and being instantly gratified.  I am SO my mother’s daughter).  I decided to take a short drive up to Erath Winery to pick up some Pinot Gris (for my recipe swap) and some Pinot Blanc (for my own enjoyment).  As I was driving through these hills, I turned on the radio and Amos Lee’s song went from being just a song stuck in my head to actually playing on the radio.  It was the perfect moment with the windows indeed rolled down driving through my Heaven on Earth.  If you live in the Portland area and have never been out to Dundee, get in your car this weekend and go up to Erath, visit my friends who work in the tasting room, enjoy the view, and drink damn good wine.  You’ll thank me…and yourself.

The rest of the day was filled with a cat nap in my big cozy chair with the sun on my face, two of my favorite girlfriends, Michelle and Julia , wine flights at R.Stuart on 3rd Street in McMinnville, flirting with the cute cook at Thistle, and a lovely dinner with them at my place.  I need to have more Saturday’s off.

Sunday was just as pleasant.  I love my day of rest and wish everyday were as great as Sundays.  Usually, it’s church, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, then back home to cook and rest for the day.  But yesterday, I spend the bulk of my day in Lindsay’s kitchen.  We drank mimosas, ate beet and quinoa pancakes (I’m sure she’ll post those on her blog, but you can follow that link in the meantime), watched the E! red carpet interviews for the SAG Awards, and baked to our little heart’s content.  I can’t reveal too much of what we baked since it’s for our recipe swap that we’ll all post next Monday, but I can give you a little teaser:

And I have to show your our beet pancakes…since they were bright pink!

Plain and Simple

04. January 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve never been a huge fan of New Years Eve.  Dressing up in something flashy and bejeweled and staying up really late has never been my cup of tea and actually makes me anxious and uncomfortable just thinking about it.  My only plan this year was to have dinner with my favorite old roommates at Toro Bravo which I was pretty dang excited about.  I mean, these girls are suurrriously my favorite.

But on Thursday, LaDonna called.

“Hi sweetie whatcha doing this weekend?”

“Well, not a whole lot actually.  What’s up?”

I thought she might be planning on coming to Portland to visit Adam and Corbin or something, but no.  She called to invite me up to Plain (just 10 miles from Leavenworth) to visit her and Jon and Teri for the weekend.  She had already looked into train tickets and I was set to go.  How could I resist such an invitation?  I had to bail on my roommates for dinner but they all sent me off with blessings and told me to go and have a good time.  And a good time I had indeed.  Usually, after a busy weekend, I’m pretty beat by Sunday night and by no means ready for a long week to start again.  But after I got home from the drive on Sunday, I felt relaxed, rested, and refreshed.

Long walks in the snow with LaDonna, cross country skiing with Jon, Snow mobile-ing with Teri, eating deer meat sausage for breakfast, sitting by the “fire” (a DVD of a fire burning…it was so real!) drinking red wine, chillin’ watching a movie.  It was near perfect.  The only thing that would have been better would be having Anthony there with us.

Thanks Jon and LaDonna for having me up for a visit!  And thanks Aunt Teri for the great ride home.  Love you guys!

\

Sunday Drive

31. October 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Crystal and I took a Sunday drive and ended up in the Dundee Hills.  Surprise, surprise.  We both needed to see some beauty.

The Next Change of Seasons

29. October 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

My heart has gone from heavy and sad to light and excited and back to heavy and sad several times within the last week.  A week ago today, we received a letter from our landlord saying she was moving back to Portland and wanted us out of her house by the end of November.

This isn’t just any house though.  It’s been my home for 3 years.  I’ve lived with 10 different ladies in the Thompson House, loved my roommates and hated some roommates.  Loved my neighbors and hated some neighbors.  I got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in this house, graduated college in this house, got a real job in this house, bought a car in this house, gone through break ups in this house, learned to cook in this house, learned to love wine in this house, prayed deeply in this house, gone through dry spiritual seasons and rich spiritual seasons, cried over just about everything in this house, had my first trick or treaters come to the door in this house, collapsed on the floor in the kitchen screaming and bawling when Anthony died, wrestled with God in this house, heard God speak and see God move in this house, hosted a million brunches and dinner parties in this house, sat on the front steps and drank wine and smoked cigarettes from San Migued de Allende, Mexico, froze my butt of upstairs in the winter in this house, sweated my butt off in the summer upstairs in this house, put up a dream wall in this house, went to the Hollywood Farmers Market almost every weekend in this house, was a bridesmaid with all the other roommates for one of the many roommates who have tied the knot from this house, learned how to run, felt like part of a neighborhood, saw the seasons change 12 times in this house.  The list can go on forever (more memories to come).

But I’ll be seeing the next season change in another house.  Another home.  Where that home will be and who that home will be with is up to the Lord.  I’ve been praying for over year for Him to move me.  Ha.  I have to move somewhere because I can’t stay here.  It’s exhilarating to think that this might be my chance to live to wine country.  But it’s even more exhilarating to know that God is working.  He is listening and after all this waiting, I’m finally seeing that prayer being answered.  And I know that I can trust Him.  I know that He knows my heart and He is good.

So Lord, lead on.  Here’s to the next change in season.

Punch in the Gut Beautiful

29. September 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

This picture flashed across my screen for literally 5 seconds.  I fell in love with it in about a half second and had just enough time to right click and save before it disappeared.

This is a dream photo.  I have tears in my eyes just looking at it.

Andrea Johnson Photography

Crisp and Tart

28. September 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

That’s what I like in an apple:  Crisp, tart, fresh crop, and local.  Ginger Golds and Newtown Pippins are some of my favorites, to name a few.  One of the best Fall happenings in Portland is the the Portland Nursery Apple Festival (pears too).  Look at all the different varieties to taste through.  By the end of the line, you are so stuffed with apples and pears that they are coming out your ears!

The second weekend is October is usually one of the most beautiful weekends of the entire calendar year here.  The sun in shining beautifully, the trees are ablaze with oranges and reds, and it’s usually when I can finally pull out the chunky scarf and still wear sunglasses.  On that weekend, you’ll find me tasting apples, sitting on hay bales and eating some pulled pork with apple chutney.  Can’t wait!

Awake, My Eyes!

09. September 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,
All Around Me

I could sit beneath this canopy all day long.

(Stolen from Bridget Collins’ blog…unashamedly)

Back to School

02. September 2010 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I think it’s pretty obvious what excites me.

The people who know me or read my blog or tweets know what gives me a glow, spreads a unwavering grin across my face, lets me breathe a sigh of relief, and makes me straight up giddy.  Farmers Markets, seasonal cooking, great weather, the sun on my face in the morning, skies full of stars, Oregon bounty, good friends, Portland Trail Blazers, nature, and of course wine and wine country.

But there are certainly things that do not excite me: constant gray skies, working a desk job, staying up late, fast food, the state of this countries meat and agriculture industry, tardiness, being cold, flaky people, to name a few.  Another thing that steals my excitement and actually brings a heavy burden and anxiety on me is something that was in my recent past: school.

I’ve never been one to excel at academics.  I made it through high school without any major bumps or bruises (save the junior level algebra class that I barely passed 2 weeks before graduation.  any other math haters out there? woot woot!).  College was a different story all together.  5 colleges, 4 majors, and 6 years finally earned me a degree in a field that I had absolutely no interest or experience in.  I still cringe at the thought sitting in statistics and economics classes for 4 hours.  The moment I realized that I had finished editing my senior thesis,  a stream of joyful, proud, and exhausted tears rolled down my cheeks.  I rejoiced at the thought of  never having to write a paper, read a text book, do a group project, or give a Power Point presentation ever again.  I never thought I would go back to school.

Until now.

At the end of September, I’ll be a student in the Viticulture Program at Chemeketa Community College in Salem.  I’ve had plenty of experience in tasting rooms, but now I want to dabble in other areas of the wine industry.  I’m taking General Viticulture and Wine Marketing–Brand Development.  Who knows, maybe I will absolutely love the growing/vineyard side of things or find that I have a knack for making earthy, luscious Oregon Pinot Noir.  Or maybe I’m meant to be back in the tasting room or out at restaurants and grocery stores selling the wine someone else makes.  All I know is that  I can easily see myself in the wine industry for the rest of my career, so here I am pursuing it.

And I couldn’t be more excited.

It feels great to have something to look forward too and be giddy about.  I had Europe to look forward to all summer and now it’s a new season of life and I’m going to enjoy what is ahead.  And maybe I’ll be like some of the women in these photos!  Can’t you just see me in those playing in those vines??

I fell in love with this photo (to the left) the moment I saw it.  Sitting on a vineyard at sunset during harvest might be one of the most restful, peaceful, serene, magical images I could possibly imagine.  This is where my imagination goes when I need to get away.  When I  close my eyes and quiet my head and heart, this is where I end up and I could sit here for hours and hours.  Perhaps it won’t always be a dream…but a reality.

Oh PS…I’m trying to find creative ways to make money to help pay for classes.  I’d be happy to work some shifts in a tasting room, help out over Thanksgiving weekend,  help with crush, mow some lawns, weed some garden beds, housesit, dog-walk,  clean your house, ANYTHING!  If you have any odd jobs for me, I’m for hire!

Wine with Swine

17. August 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I just love her!  This makes me so happy…

It’s Good to Enjoy Wine with Swine by Clare Carver at Big Table Farm

Day 9-11: Switzerland

17. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

You know that feeling of finally getting somewhere you want to be and the all the weight that has been on your shoulders just melts off and you feel light again?  That’s the feeling I had when we arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland on Friday.  A nurse at Steve’s hospital matched us up with her husband, Scott and their friend Bryan for a weekend hiking trip in the Swiss Alps.  Steve checked the weather and told me to pack for rain, but I packed for August sun and was very ill-prepared.  Luckily, Scott’s wife, Shelley had enough gear for me to sport on our hike.  (Thanks Shelley! You are a life saver)  The only glitch: my feet are bigger than Shelley’s so I resorted to wearing my somewhat new, hardly broken in Chacos.  They were champs though with a little help from some big band-aids.  The hike was easily the hardest hike of my life, and could easily stay that way.  We’re talking seriously quick elevation gain, rough terrain for part of it, and a lot of rain at the beginning and end.  I don’t mind cloudy with a little chill in the air, but a straight up downpour can put a damper on the day real quick.  The bulk of the middle, however, was beautiful!  There’s no feeling like the feeling you get at the end of a arse-kicking hike when you can finally sit and have a beer.  Man, that felt good.

Aside from the hike, Interlaken is a charming little town with mountains towering on every side, a jade colored river running through the middle, tons of hostels, and swarms of paragliders overhead.  15 minutes away (by car) is the town of Grindelwald, which is where most of the hiking starts.  It’s nestled into the Alps and is your typical Swiss village with red and white flags, Swiss Chalets, and green hillsides everywhere.  Loved everything about it.

This trip was exactly the breath of life I needed and will remain the highlight of my time in Europe.

Balmer’s!  This is the hostel we stayed at while we were in Interlaken.  What a cool culture and feel.

Scott and Shelley are big wine drinkers so he packed a couple bottles for us to enjoy.  After we got settled in at Balmer’s, we walked into town, grabbed some Swiss truffles, and opened a bottle of Cote du Rhone at the park in the middle of Interlaken.  Loooovely.

This is pretty typical of us: poking fun at each other.

Swarms of paragliders all over the sky in Interlaken!  They start from a mountain top on the other side of the river, glide down, and land in this park right in front of us.  Next time in Interlaken, I’m doing it!

Grindelwald is where we started out hike.  You’ll see some aerial photos of it from our hike…

Scott, me, Bryan, and Steve at square one.  We’re heading up into those mountains behind us.  I have no idea what lies ahead of me…

Where are we going?!  Ask these Magellan’s.

There were so many of these chalets on the way up.  This one marks the start of our ascent up the Eiger Trail.

We enjoyed a beer way up on the mountain after a tough elevation climb.  Rugen Brau is a local brewery in Interlaken.

The rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal this amazing mountain peak!  We’ve only just begun. Grindelwald is in the background.  Scott, Bryan, me, and Steve.

Eiger Trail…

Up we go…thaddaway.

I couldn’t help but think that God is a pretty creative creator.  Majestic!

We weren’t sure what these pilings were for, but they were all over one part of our hike.

Tons of waterfalls along the Eiger Trail from all the glacial run-off.  Crystal clear and freezing cold.

I’ve always wanted to do this!  Easily the best drinking water on the planet.  Bryan kept on calling it “giardia water” and wouldn’t drink it, but he missed out!

We spotted this waterfall down where we had a beer and were so glad to finally be there!  Objects on the mountain are closer than they appear.

I love the ruggedness of this shot.

I had to do it!  But by the time I remembered my jersey was in my pack, we were pretty socked in from the fog so the shot of the rock was all I could get.  Who knows, maybe it’ll get me on the big screen at a game!

It’s getting foggier…which means rain is a comin’.

More cowbell!  There were so many cows with bells around their necks towards the end of our hike.  Such a sweet sound.

TThe trail down to Kleine Scheidegg took us through some cow pastures and many a cow-pie.

After 7 hours, 3,500 feet (gestimate), rain, sun, clouds, tight calves, and a couple stops to treat some low blood sugars and to eat lunch, we made it to the train station at Kleine Scheidegg.  We had a celebratory drink while we waited for the train to take us back down into Grindelwald.  It felt SO good to warm up and sit down.  We were all beat, but happy that we made it to the top.  Steve said that with a little training, I could easily summit Mt. Hood!  I would love to summit with him and his dad to see what Anthony was so in love with.  What an experience that would be.  Next year :)

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