Vines

One of my favorite things about Portland are the old buildings that make up the city, some of them have been here for so long they've turned into something straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Seeing vine encased facades like this is not uncommon, even our apartment is half green! The morning of the squeeze's birthday we walked up State Street, a long stretch of uphill road lined with large brick buildings similar to this. 

The squeeze and I both stopped and examined the massive green vine monster. I asked if he wondered whether or not the structure of the building had been compromised over time due to the little vines making their way over and through it. Neither of us knew. Some of these buildings have been here for 100+ years and are still standing strong, despite mother nature's green touch.

Regardless, I love the way it looks. It would be interesting to live behind the walls of one of these heavily decorated buildings, just look at that window, it's practically enclosed! In the winter it's a lot less lush looking and a lot more creepy with just the bare vine stems clinging to the walls. I wonder if we'll see this down south?

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!

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??