taking the long way

natefest

Every year around this time my friend Nate organizes a fest in his honor - to get friends together and to celebrate his birthday. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the 15th annual Natefest which was held at the Olympic Hotel in Centralia, Washington this past weekend. I tried to attend last year, but caught some sort of nasty flu on my return home from Thanksgiving in Mexico... yes it could have been the swine flu. And yes, as many people have joked I could have been patient zero. Though no one I know got sick after me so that puts that theory to bed. Anyhoo, Nate scouts out locations early in the year, makes all the arrangements, and then collects $100 from each of us in the fall. All we have to do is pack and get there and everything else is covered. About forty people came this year. We were booked in nearly every room at the Olympic Hotel, a former brothel, that from the histories I read provided quite a service for quite a few men during the early 20th century. The hotel is linked to a pub, pool hall and movie theater and located along a historic main street that seems to have the corner on antiques in the area. A full-sized full set plastic glow-from-within Nativity set was on sale for only $450. Quite a steal! So Friday I took the MAX from work to the train station and boarded the Amtrak going North. I met up with my friend Molly (whom I've known since the 2nd grade) when she boarded at the next stop (Molly is married to the Nate of Natefest). About an hour and a half later we deboarded in Centralia and walked across the street to the Olympic Hotel where the festivities had already begun. The weekend was full of yummy drinks, food, friends and field trips. A quick trip to Mima Mounds came close to resembling a Gilligan's Island style three-hour tour. Our Saturday night festivities were capped with the annual Feuerzangenbowle and the season's first snow fall. On Sunday I hopped out the back of the Oly Club and on to the train for a lovely ride back to Portland through fresh snow-covered hills. Quite a way to start December!

ivy

There are some friends in your life that make a huge difference, who are with you every step of the way, and who brighten your day, month and year. Ivy is that friend. She is so generous and talented and I love her dearly. Now it's my turn to be the friend who makes the difference, who is with her every step to brighten every day. She is undergoing major surgery tonight to remove a cancerous tumor. I am thinking of her and sending her my love, which will soon be followed by warm healing soup, wheat-free pies, and fun trashy magazines. What are friends for?! update: Ivy's surgery went very well with news that the cancer was no where near her lymph nodes. They got it all out, every last bit! Take that cancer!! Ivy and I wine tasting in the Willamette Valley Ivy, Tara and I searching for the perfect apple around Hood River, Oregon Ivy and I traveling through Italy nearly a decade ago... Ivy painting the beautiful hills around Siena, Italia Celebrating spring when we were in graduate school at the University of Oregon

boston - i love that dirty water!

kaitlyn, amy, joel and andrew at joshua tree in davis square (amy & chris and lynn & lance joined us later)

fenway park

kaitlyn and amy at fenway

kaitlyn, holly and amy watching the game

amy, holly, chris and kaitlyn

news stand outside fenway in kenmore square - go sox!

amy, kaitlyn and andrew in the public gardens

friday night dinners

Immediately following graduate school I spent a couple years in Connecticut and found an amazing group of friends. We were all new to being Nutmeggers in the Constitution State and so explored our new home in New England together.

With few exceptions, nearly every Friday night we found ourselves at someone's place (usually Dior's) for friday night dinner parties. Late nights sometimes reaching to dawn, free-flowing wine and bourbon, and laughter beyond belief characterized these evenings, which only served as a prelude to weekends together.

We recently reunited at Anne and Jeromy's house in Connecticut for a delicious friday night dinner. We missed Dior, who couldn't make it, and can only hope that our laughter reached him in California. I'm so lucky to have such amazing, warm, talented, hilarious and generous friends!

working waterfronts

New Bedford anchored the whaling trade along with Nantucket, when whale oil illuminated lamps extended across New England in the 1700s. Today it is still a working waterfront, a port where fishermen dock before heading out to sea for two to three week stretches of time to search for and catch fresh seafood like the tuna, scallops and lobster we had just finished eating.

On our way back to Round Hill we walked through the waterfront in the dark of night to hear the sounds and see the sights of the water’s industrial edge. I have to admit that walking by these large trawlers with their industrial size pulleys and spindles used to pull in loaded down nets sent chills through me. Maybe it is all the death and hardship these boats see when they’re at work, but something permeates their essence that is dark and foreboding. The one bright spot (literally) was a boat at end of the pier.

Three North Carolina fishermen had headed north to avoid the latest hurricane, docked in New Bedford, and were headed out the next morning to harvest sea scallops. Fishing is in their blood, they told us. They know that even while they entertain thoughts of leaving this life, they know they could never say goodbye to the sea.

p.s. I just had to include this fun photo of Amy! The docks may have been creepy, but they still provided an ideal stage for her dance moves!

meet you in padanaram

We spent a good four years together nearly every day while we were in graduate school in Eugene. Now we are scattered around the country – Amy’s in Boston, Catriona and Sam are in Philly, David is in Missoula, and Ivy and I are in Portland.

Every year or so we get together for a weekend, but it’s been a long time since the whole gang’s been able to gather. There was Philly in 2003, Nantucket in 2004, and Portland in 2008. This year we all met for Labor Day weekend at Round Hill in Padanaram, Massachusetts (Amy’s parent’s summer place on the shores of Buzzards Bay).

We ate lobster and fresh farm grown produce, swam in the calm ocean waves and lounged on the beach, rode around in golf carts and hiked through the woodlands, biked around the inlets and stopped for homemade ice cream. We watched a little tennis and played a little bocce. The weather was warm and gorgeous and the whole weekend was too dreamy for words.

vacation every day

Landing in Boston (after a nonstop from Portland – thanks Alaska Airlines) and getting picked up in a convertible with the top down is the right way to start a vacation. But that in no way compares to having a wonderful 24 hours with Lauri and Magnus at their new home in Newburyport. It was short, but Lauri and I really know how to pack amazing conversations and experiences into soul-enriching moments of time.

I love experiencing the everyday moments of life… from getting a little turned around in New England, to stopping by one of its best farmers markets (the farm had a live buffalo for pete’s sake), to listening to neighbors (they could give reality tv stars a run for their money) while we drank a decadent bottle of Pinor Noir. Dinner started by getting excited to cook an amazing Indian curry dish only to find out we were out of tumeric which led to picking up the phone and ordering Thai. Watching a little Ducks football (before things turned ugly) and then falling into a deep slumber in the best guest quarters a tired traveler could ask for – I nodded off to the sounds of New England church bells striking the eleventh hour.

In the morning we ducked into town to grab a little coffee before heading to the beach with our picnic breakfast where we got to talk and catch up to the sound of the waves and the sights of summer’s end. Newburyport is Lauri and Magnus’ new home and they chose well – it feels like vacation every day.

milk and cookies

My friend Anne is the most talented party planner and decorative baker I know. I am always amazed by her works of art, but she trumped herself this time when throwing a first birthday party for her daughter Aubrey. The theme was milk and cookies and everything you see here, from the cakes to the cookies to the decorations were handmade by her. Of course her friends and family are always the beneficiaries of her gifts... but she's starting to offer her talents to other lucky connoisseurs. Connecticut is one lucky state to have Miss Anne Powers in their midst.

the birthday girl

the scene

the scene (cont.)

ta da... the cake!

the details - drinks at the watering hole

cookies galore

puffy paper flowers

party favors - as if the rest wasn't enough!

the serenade by her big sister

the reward!

quiet moments at dant

eating lunch with henrik

What a ham - the sandwich and the kid!