12x12: March

Jeff & I went to the 500th beer list party at the Alibi Room. We went on the second day so a lot of the special casks and taps they'd opened on the previous night had already sold out, but there was still a veritable book of beers to choose from.

Someone brought a piñata...

One must presume this error is on purpose.

First time I noticed the creepy stuffed owl thing behind the bar.

Someone brushed past me as I was taking this, and in the low light, it was enough to make it turn out like this, apparently.

COOL STORY TIME: A grey cat kept coming around our yard for a few days looking skinny and sad and wanting to come inside, so we fed him and Tamara set up a box so he would have someplace to sleep. I figured before calling a shelter I'd look on craigslist for lost pets, and found one that fit the description in our neighbourhood. He was an indoor cat who'd escaped almost two weeks before — no wonder he was so skinny! I emailed her and she came over right away to pick him up. She cried with happiness and asked if she could give me a hug. A few days later I found this pot of yellow roses on the front stoop from her. Such a sweet gesture; I was just happy to help someone get their lost pet home. I've since planted them in the front yard, hoping they get some roots and turn into a bush. (The pink daisies are from a wedding Sarah went to.)

A neat thing about making stout cake is you get to drink the leftover stout.

I trimmed this and did some weeding; it's out of control again now though.

13/52

Ran into someone I'd met at the last cookoff at the pub, ended up staying for four hours talking with him and his friend over beers. Weeded the garden. Made cupcakes. Ate waffles and went to the movies with Jeff on a rare Sunday off together, then had beers at Portland Craft while talking about the movie (12 Years a Slave).

27 April 13

When life upsets me I either don't have an appetite at all or I want to eat everything. This time it was the latter: I made deep-fried pickles, guacamole, baba ganoush. Watched the game with Steph until it got terrible. I was wearing these new shoes around the house all day, trying to break them in.

24 April 13

Shoe sale day: second-worst work day of the year (first prize goes to inventory). I think my favourite part of the day was when a lady came up to me and asked if the prices were as marked, and since I wasn't really given any information to the contrary, I said yes. She put the shoes she was holding down and said with distaste, "Oh, it's too expensive, forget it, it's not worth it," as if I give a flying fuck if she buys the damn shoes or not. And as it turned out, any shoes priced over $40 were on sale for $39.99, but I don't really feel too sad about that cheap bitch not getting a deal.

Another fun thing that happened was that a couple of women put their own shoes on the floor while trying things on and they got picked up by people clearing the floor, and some of them disappeared for several HOURS! It was kind of baffling, but honestly, ladies, it's a zoo in there. Don't let your shoes out of your sight, and certainly don't leave them in a pile of random shoes on the floor.
Anyway, at the end of the day I bought these badass leather oxfords and a new pair of knockoff Keds.

06 January 13

09 March 12

A party at Laryssa & Amanda's while Jeff Downer was visiting from Boston. I had to leave around 11:30, before things got busy, but with other people's parties, I don't usually like to be around a huge amount of people anyways. It was nice sitting around talking and drinking beer & wine earlier in the evening.

31 December 11

Final self-portrait of the year. We had a smallish party at the house, about 15 people. We had plenty of food and liquor and played Cards Against Humanity and laughed ourselves silly. Personally, I think that's a much better way to ring in the new year than in a hot, crowded bar full of people you don't know where you're paying $8 for every drink.

19 March 11

We had some coffee and read at the espresso cafe in Maple Falls, and then decided to take Chuckanut Drive from Bellingham to Mount Vernon. What a fantastic choice that was! It was gorgeous the whole way; I would love to do it again with more time to just stop and meander through a few of the little towns, and check out the coast a bit more.

I was reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and was totally absorbed in it. I didn't even stop reading in the car when I started to feel moderately nauseous. When we got to Dorothy's, she saw the book in my hand and exclaimed loudly over it, and said she'd understand completely if I was a bit anti-social. Even at the symphony I was reading it during the intermission.

We drove home via the Peace Arch and got in around 1:30 - neither of us really relished another restless night's sleep at the trailer.

11 March 11

The cats seemed fascinated by me propping my umbrella up in the kitchen to dry.

08 January 11

Jeff and I spent the afternoon running errands, and then came home and made dinner and drank beer and watched the Canucks blow their winning streak.

18 November 10

Went to the midnight Harry Potter showing with Jeff, Steph, and my sisters and their boyfriends. We apparently should have lined up like... two days before, because we got there at 9pm and were still in the front row of the upper level (still a fair bit of neck craning involved, but no pain the next day). We sat on the floor of an overly heated Metrotown while snow fell outside.

12 November 10

On my mom's advice, I bought these ankle booties instead of the blue leather flat oxfords I fell in love with on Wednesday. These are actually comfortable. I guess that's what happens when you don't buy cheap and/or used shoes.