Weekends with the family

Street Fighter IV. Puppy farts. Mimosas. Flipping through wedding photos. Making soup. Complaining about the loud neighbors next door.

I feel so old, and boring. And content.


*Note the owl portrait in the background, c/o Blissful Images. My fav.

Honeymoon

Hiking along the windy coast. Evenings in front of a fire. Eco-friendly Inn. Breakfast elves tapping on the door in the wee hours of the morn'. Post-fire-making splinter removal. How much organic bath gel does it take to make bubbles seep through the open windows? Kissing on the cliff. Peeing in the woods. More bath gel.

The only thing better than gallivanting nude in the privacy of your own room: gallivanting nude in the common areas of a B&B while sucking on complementary red vines from the mini bar.

Red Vines.

Champagne.

Streaking.

Love.

Lazy Sunday

Homemade Sangria. The smell of clean towels. Rice crackers. Naps. More Sangria.

My favorite day of the week.

ok, I bluff

I realized when I ended an argument with Nick the other day by using the line, "Oh shut up, Stewie Pajamas," that maybe I shouldn't have been such a bluff before. Love is: leaving your partner's beloved nightwear in the free bin downstairs, then pretending the cat ate them when he hunts for them after work.

On a lighter note, we've been getting a ton of RSVP's back and I'm starting to get antsy. 50 days.

Now, I'm off to a weekend of overpriced Rubies, Fleet Foxes, and bad reality TV.

Love,
Amanda

Image from *meppol

#4: Love is...

On my first Christmas living here in The Big City I was puzzled to receive a flashlight from my parents packaged neatly in paper with a bow. They grinned proudly while I unwrapped my gift, declaring in a matter-of-fact tone that this was no ordinary flashlight. No. This was a Mag-Lite. The mother of all beating sticks. I was to carry this monstrous hunk of metal with me whenever I went out. After dark. Near dark. Early morning. On my way to class. To work. While shopping.

One can never be too safe.Image from here

If anyone (be it bum, murderer, or rapist) so much as looked in my direction, I was to give them the best old-fashioned beat-down of their life. And I kid you not- my parents were dead serious.

Of course I never actually carried this thing around with me outside (I have no fear of NW Portland after dark). Instead it found itself snuggled carefully between my nightstand and bed. You know, in case the power goes out (or said bum, murderer, rapist breaks into our apartment and needs a good beat-down).

The other night I knocked the Mag-Lite over while fishing for my copy of 'Martha Stewart Weddings' under the bed. The walls in our room echoed with a loud Cling! as it hit the hardwood floors. Nick was startled from his sleep.

"What the Hell are you doing?" he muttered as I quickly shut off the lights and clicked the Mag-Lite on. I waved it around on our ceiling for a few minutes then tried my hand at shadow puppets. Image from here

"Amanda," he shrieked. "Amanda! I have to wake up for work in a couple hours. Knock it off!"
I chuckled and made a bunny, then a dog, and finished up with the best ostrich you could imagine (sound effects included). Nick sighed in protest. He sat up in bed in an attempt to outdo me with shadow puppet genius. We giggled then teased. insults were thrown and competition was high. A laser light show was attempted while Nick belted out his best Jimi Hendrix impersonation.

This continued on until our cats grew scared and hid under the bed and the beam of the Mag-Lite flickered out of life.

Nick and I will forever be kids.


Mag-Lite, you rock.

#3: Love is...

When I got home from work tonight I was delighted to find a package waiting for me on top of our mailboxes downstairs. I began ripping into it as I took the stairs two at a time, and by the time I burst into the apartment I was trailing bits of packing material behind me in the hall. Nick turned around from the computer and eyed me suspiciously as I tossed aside the contents of my box onto our desk and inspected the small, squishy, biodegradable packing peanuts.Image from here

"Umm... what are you doing?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? These things are made of corn. I'm pretty sure these are the ones you can eat!"

"It's packing material Amanda. You can't eat that stuff. It's filthy."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever..." I muttered while picking out the biggest one I could find and shoving it into my mouth. I slowly chewed and a grin spread across my face. "These things are really good!"

"Jesus," he shrieked. "Jesus! Spit that out now! You're going to poison yourself!"

I reluctantly spit it out then snuck a few to the cats before depositing them into the trash.

This reminds me of the time we were hiking in the woods and he freaked out when he caught me shoving handfuls of these little red berries into my mouth. Spit those out now! You're going to poison yourself! I told him they were huckleberries. Apparently huckleberries are blue?

He was convinced I was going to die painfully and slow. The hypochondriac in me started to believe it.

Pffft!Red Huckleberry photo from Wikipedia.

What was that? There is no such thing as a Red Huckleberry?


P.S. biodegradable packing material tastes like rice cakes- but with a little more kick.

#2: Love is...

what the deuce?A gift to the fiance from my parents one Christmas (it was these or some Family Guy figurines- when questioned by my mom I picked what I thought then to be the lesser of the evils).

He wears these things around our apartment like they're the only piece of clothing he owns. Watching t.v.: what the deuce? Playing computer games: what the deuce? Take out the trash: what the deuce?

"I hate those pajamas."

"What? Why? They're comfortable!"

"I'm going to burn them when you're not home."

"Pffffft!"

"I'm not bluffing."

I don't bluff.

#1: Love is...

having this come home to you in the wee hours of the morning: puke margaritas all over your bed, and still having the patience the next morning to run and get her "mini-baby mcnuggets" to cure the hangover.

A Juicy Couture track suit? Really?

(this picture taken by my friend after a night at The Gold last fall. I'm making leaf angels- sort of.)