Sweet South

Almost two years ago I visited Austin. And I was totally hooked. I said to myself, "This is where I want to be." I took this photo while going horseback riding, I'd been before many years ago but not like this. The horses trekked their way up the side of a what seemed like a small mountain with sharp thorny brush, steep hillsides, loose rocks, and slippery gravel. I thought I was nearly going to die a couple times.

I guess I should probably explain how I ended up there. You see, the friend I was visiting worked at Travaasa Austin, a luxurious spa resort that was nestled atop a mountain surrounded by forests overlooking a lake. For only a lot of money you get to stay in a modern and rustic room overlooking a canyon, dine in their exquisite restaurant, have access to a full spa which offers hot-stone massages, and are welcome to join in the many daily activities offered to the guests. Some of these activities included archery lessons, hikes, yoga, and you guessed it, horseback riding! I was very fortunate in the fact that I knew someone, and sometimes that's the best "in" you can get. I think for the entire two days I was there, once overnight, I spent a whopping $100.

Back to the horseback riding. Because I wasn't really a "paying guest" we sort of had to wedge our way into getting access to these awesome extras. Normally you had to sign up for whatever activity you were interested in, but we just sort of showed up and went with the flow. Horseback riding was actually booked the day we wanted to go, we simply arrived and batted our eyelashes at the real cowboys who were in charge and managed to add ourselves to the group that was leaving shortly. Unfortunately, the horses we were paired with were technically "out of order." My horse especially seemed a little aggressive and impatient, he would stop abruptly to go to the bathroom regardless of the terrain (or incline at that matter), and would cut ahead of the other horses and run to the front of the line. You can imagine the look on my face at this point. A couple times he tripped on large rocks and sank in soft sand, almost taking me down with him. When we reached a part of the mountain that had large thorny trees, he ran alongside them forcing me to duck and pull my leg back so as not to lose a limb.

Once we returned to the ranch I learned that the poor guy hadn't been feeling well and that was why he was "out of order." Needless to say, I felt pretty terrible about him having to haul my weight up a mountain in 90 degree weather all the while he was sick. As we headed back to the resort I saw him off in the distance being hosed down with icy water, considering the other horses didn't get the same special treatment and he tried to smear me on a tree, I'd say we were even.

February

This snapshot is from a little over a year ago, we were on our way to New Jersey to attend the squeeze's cousin's wedding. This little guy was a Valentine's Day present, I got it right as we left for NJ so the tiny heart-shaped cactus came with us. Unfortunately about a couple months ago it got waterlogged and before I knew it its tiny roots had rotted away. Sorry squeeze. RIP tiny heart-shaped cactus.

Apparently you can kill a desert plant quite easily...

This year's Valentine's Day was spent walking through a blizzard to reach Pai Men to indulge in delicious noodles and cocktails (thanks again, Ellen and Birdman!) 

And no, I didn't get another heart-shaped cactus to replace the last one. Probably best if this strain of cacti wants any chance of survival.

February is short and sweet. This month has been exceptionally short, sweet, and cold. 

I am ready for March!

Corgis

I was going through my pictures when I came across this photo I took last summer. This is Sophie the Corgi. I met her and her two Corgi buddies when I joined my friend Hayley on a visit to their owner's home. Ed has an agility course out front of his house for the little buggers. You heard me, an AGILITY COURSE. I got to witness these tiny corgis run, jump, sprint, zig-zag, and leap their way around a course set up just to accommodate their itty bitty legs. Something you'll learn about me if you didn't already know, I love corgis. I want an army of them. An army of absolute total cuteness. 

I digress.

Watching these little guys jump ever so majestically over a bar lifted three inches off the ground is enough to put a silly grin on my face for days. Perhaps one of these days my dream of owning a corgi will become true. Until then, I'll just hit repeat on the video of Sophie running through a collapsible tube.

Letters and Espresso

I've recently gotten into hand-lettering. Thanks to the almighty resource known as, Pinterest, I found this most excellent book on the subject. Typography Sketchbooks is a collection of various artists' hand-lettering sketches, doodles, and drafts. It's full of color, bright imagery, and is just plain exciting to flip through. Although I haven't quite figured out what to create with this new found interest in hand-lettering, this book has definitely given me many ideas.

I like to think I have a steady hand, but some of these fonts and designs are so smoothly done that I wonder if I could replicate that same clean appearance. I guess I'll never know unless I try! I took a calligraphy workshop at a summer art course at USM two years ago, I enjoyed it and found it very satisfying to create letters that were works of art on their own. I'm so used to seeing the world of writing through a computer that I forget fonts were created by the human hand long before hard-drives took over. Each one perfected by the specific tilt or unique angle of the pen, how much pressure or ink was applied, and on what type of paper it was used on.

All this in-depth thinking about letters and lines and evenness makes my head swim. Here is where the espresso comes in. Best Christmas gift, ever!! Much credit and appreciation goes to the squeeze for remembering that one time I mentioned my desire to someday own an espresso machine, and then making it a reality this past holiday. We use that thing almost every day. A cappuccino and a good book make for some great down time.

Poppies

This is a painting my former boss commissioned me to do as a gift for his wife, she was graduating from Maine Law and he wanted to give her something she wasn't going to expect. I had to give him credit, thinking outside the box and such. The Mrs was thrilled about it which made me very happy, it's always nerve-wracking when you create something for someone else, the fear of them not liking it always lingers in the back of my head.

I painted this last spring. Sadly, I haven't painted a single thing since then. An artist with an art degree not making art? What would happen if butterflies stopped being butterflies? There would be fewer poppies in the world to paint. These days I'm simply too busy for my hobbies and interests. Even monarch butterflies make the time to pollinate before traveling to Mexico for the winter. The squeeze gets on my case about letting my beautiful easel he purchased for me collect dust. He's completely right.

My goal since the new year has been to pull my paints and brushes out from the cobwebs, I haven't been very good about this goal but perhaps this is the opportunity to start.

Grumpy Cat

How I long for Sundays. Listen to me, it's only Monday and I'm already starting off the week with a Grumpy Cat disposition. Although the weekend storm occurred, it didn't wreak havoc on the greater Portland area. Despite this positive news, work called us in an hour early today to clean up the parking lot. Not exactly music to my ears. So 7am was spent in snow pants (Ellen I owe you big time), scraping off cars and rearranging our parking lot so the plow could make its way through. 

Before I worked at a dealership it never occurred to that some body has to clean up and move the 100+ cars in the lot, just like it never occurred to me that every year the poor souls working at The Maine Mall have to open and disperse what seem like thousands of Christmas decorations, only to put it all away again.

Sundays are great because all the dealerships in Maine are closed. I can relax at home in my USM sweatpants and look out our majestic living room windows. We get quite the display of light filtered throughout our apartment, it leaves a pleasant warm hue on the walls. Pig often hangs out on the lounge and watches the cars and people making their way down Cumberland Ave, this is one of the best views she's had in the many apartments we've lived in.

How lovely it would be to live life as a cat. To never have to worry about a bill, school loan or snow removal, just the occasional hairball or flea. 

You are what you eat

The squeeze and I started Insanity Max: 30 a month and two weeks ago and it has been one crazy ride. But you can't work out a bad diet (see what I did there) so I've been trying my damndest to change my eating habits for good. That has also been one crazy ride. This is a picture of one of our breakfasts from a couple days ago; egg "muffins" with mushrooms, spinach, Parmesan cheese, turkey bacon, sweet tomatoes and grapefruit. Not only healthy, but quite yummy!

At work it's not as easy. They treat us to donuts and bagels after every snow removal, which has been happening at an exponential rate lately with all the storms. It's so hard to steer my gaze away from those sweet glazed donuts sitting at the desk in front of me. Sometimes I "forget" to pack a lunch for work AKA I got lazy. I bring plenty of snacks to munch on like Greek yogurt, carrots, and an apple, but that's never enough to keep me full for the whole nine hour day. Not eating is almost as bad as eating poorly! It definitely shows when it's time to work out and I have absolutely no energy to make it through the 30 minute video.

Today is one of those days, shame on me for not bringing lunch. Perhaps a stop to Lois' Naturals for a healthy hearty homemade soup is in order.

Happiness is...

A warm cat. But really, what's greater than a warm kitty in your lap?? Nothing, that's what. Since it's been so chilly lately, the Squeeze and I often huddle up by the Rinnai heater. Yesterday Pig decided to join us and wedged herself in my lap (she sort of folded in half over time as you see here in this photo). The three of us sat there for a good 30 minutes or so, taking in the heat like three bums near a blazing garbage can.

Those people that claim to hate cats I believe have either A) simply only ever been around evil cats, or B) have never been around any cats. Not all cats are the devil, some definitely are, but many can be sweet as pie. Pig has always been affectionate, she nuzzles, snuggles, and occasionally licks you on the nose. Sometimes I look at her and think there's a little person trapped behind those big yellow eyes. Other times I think she's just a crazy animal. Regardless, anyone that's ever met her has loved her, even those who claim to be "anti-cat." 

So before you judge a feline by it's furry cover, get to know them first.

Snooze

I love our cozy bedroom, especially when it's time to go to sleep after a 45+ hour work week. The exposed brick is something I'd love to have in a house one day. We have a loft space, that's where the ladder leads to, but we contemplated the pros and cons of sleeping eight feet above the floor and decided it best to not risk rolling out of bed to an abrupt drop. I love the idea of a loft, perhaps one where you can stand up in the space and with stairs to trek up instead of a terrifying ladder. Midnight bathroom breaks would be a no-go in this situation. But an attic space loft could be a super cozy and awesome addition. 

Instead we use the loft as storage space to keep clutter out of sight. Currently it is filled with boxes of supplies and projects that the squeeze is currently up to. It's not so much "out of sight" right now, but as the squeeze's projects fluctuate, so does the mass of the storage. 

Those pink lights are actually purple Halloween lights I bought at Walmart a couple years ago, I never really got to use them because I lived with El Papa and he's not much into holiday decor, but they seem to fit right into our ambient little sleep quarters. 

Speaking of sleep, that sounds amazing right about now!

Cozy

It.has.been.COLD. I'm talking nostril hairs freezing kind of cold. The second I get home I cuddle up into my Bean slippers. Thank god for those, our frigid hard wood floors are not kind to bare feet. Even socks don't help. Only 42 more days until Spring! Having all this LL.Bean stuff around wouldn't be the same though if we didn't have snow or chilly weather. It's a catch 22 I guess.

It just keeps on coming...

Oh, just some enormous death icicles hanging by our window, no big deal. These things look to be about four feet long. That's pretty impressive and terrifying at the same time if you ask me. I can't even begin to explain how much I hate the cold. And snow. And winter. And ice. And the cold. It's so physically painful to step outside where the air feels like it's slapping you in the face.

I know it's over 100 degrees ten months out of year in Texas, and frankly I don't care. I rather that, than this. The driveway to our apartment is so backed up with snow that parking has become something comparable to that of maneuvering inside of a sardine can. Parking on the street crosses my mind when it gets bad. You heard me right, parking on the street in Portland almost seems like a better option sometimes. 

My apologies, I get very antsy and fussy during the winter. This is just my annual snow rant and I had to get it out of the way.

Five months until Texas??

Do You Ever Feel...

Like a plastic bag? Thanks Katy Perry, for your heartfelt and insightful lyrics lolz. But seriously, look at this cat. Pig has always had a bizarre fascination with plastic bags, I'm afraid she's going to suffocate one of these days when I catch her sleeping in the occasional misplaced Hannaford version. Silly Pig.

I don't think plastic bags actually have feelings, but I'm sure I understand the point Miss Perry is trying to get across. With all this blizzard weather we've been having lately up north, it's hard to keep a positive mindset. I often forget that my mood is affected by the weather, and when I catch myself in a slump I usually look outside to see 12 foot high pyramids of snow and am reminded of why I feel bummy.

Too much snow removal at work and not enough customers. It's a dangerously effective combination on one's mood.

Here's hoping to sunny mornings and warm afternoons soon!

SB2015!

I finally caved last night and watched my first Super Bowl. Nothing against football, I just didn't grow up with a football-loving family. My dad took me to Pirates games when I was younger and he and my grandfather get crazy with the World Cup. But as far as sports go, I'm just really not into them (that's probably going to have to change when we move to TX).

Despite it all, the squeeze was excited and I promised him I'd watch it. 

And I'll have to admit, I had fun! I now understand the excitement and anticipation of the game and it was a great experience. Perhaps next year, dare I say, I'd be willing to watch another Super Bowl!

Winning $50 on Super Bowl Squares wasn't too bad either.

Go Pats!