today we went to the farmers market as usual, and then to trader joe's. at both places i ran into people i know. i finally ran into my brother grant's ex-girlfriend, amy. she works at trader joe's. anyway, i knew it would happen eventually, but in a town of almost 2 million people, you'd think it would've taken a bit longer.

the weather is still awesome. if i were to suggest any time to come visit portland, september/october is definitely my favotire time of year so far. it's just perfect. anyway, i've got weeknends off for now. mike and i are heading up to hawthorne for sushi tonight. it's so great to have TWO days off together. i wonder what we'll come up with for tomorrow...?

more later!

--anne

the barrenness i am talking about in hte next post. 

we just got back from a daytrip to mount hood. it's really big. and it's so beautiful up there. i was suprised at how barren it is beyond the treeline. not sure if the treelessness is from the year-round snow, or the fact that it's a volcano. anyway, the snow-capped mountain behind mike in the seond picture is mount adams. the last picture is of us once we got as far as we were gonna get on mount hood. we couldn't find timberline lodge (the lodge where the interior shots for the shining was filmed), but it's probably for the better, as i don't want and nightmares tonight.


 

mount hood: the shadowy mountain.

mount tabor

today was glorious. mike was at work, so i drove up to mount tabor park and went for a walk. it's absolutely clear and lovely outside, and the temps are in the mid-70s. this may be one of the last times we can see mount hood until the springtime, so i took advantage. the leaves haven't really changed yet, but you can see they're just about to.


 

weekend!

well i managed to get myself a three-day weekend. mike has to work tomorrow morning, but i'm going to "the bins" tomorrow with my friend beth. "the bins" are some sort of wacky thrift store where you buy crap by the pound. i don't know what i'm in the market for, but i have to check this place out--apparently it's a portland phenomenon.

after the thrift store, i think i'm headed to the farmer's market because we're having kim and kevin over for dinner tomorrow evening. mike is making some sort of apple butter-marinated fish, and i'll be making dutch apple pie for dessert. yum! kevin finally got a job (they've been here like 3 months and he had no luck finding anything). he's the new wine specialist at wild oats in tigard (suburb). i'm so excited because--we'll get DEEP DISCOUNTS on WINE! woohoo!

okay, anyway, the weather is glorious: crisp (upper 60s-mid70s) and sunny and, well, just gorgeous. the leaves haven't quite changed color yet, but i can tell that it's going to be spectacular once they do. i can't wait.

work-wise, i've volunteered to take over our gift department at borders (stationary, journals, assorted crap). while i'm sure it'll mean no extra money for me, my 6-month review is coming up and it'll probably get me a raise then. i've been working closing shifts for the past month and a half or so, and i hate it. i'm really hoping that with this new responsibility, they'll switch me back to days.

that's all for now. i'll snap some pics tomorrow so you can all see what i'm seeing!

love, anne

My Rainy Bike Commute...

Well today was my first day of pretty heavy rain while riding my bike to work. Luckily some things have come along in the world of technofibers, so that I dont have to ride with an umbrella in one hand. My bike has a set of full fenders on both the front and back wheels, so it keeps my feet dry from the wheels at least. I was a bit skiddish today, since i have never really ridden a bike in the rain on city streets during rush hours. My bike is a hybrid, so it has features of both a road bike and a mountain bike. It has road bike tires (really skinny and slick) which I like because of the speed you can get going on dry pavement. But in the rain it's an entirely different feeling. I must say I really loved it though, riding in the rain that is. There was just a fraction of the amount of bike riders there are on nice days, it really kinda felt like the rode was yours. And well about 2000 cars also. Anyway, I just needed to right that. I show up to work soaking wet, and I get home from work soaking wet, and I dont think I could be smiling any wider. Ciao

runzas in paradise

 
 

i decided to bring runzas to oregon. people might think i'm strange for loving them, but i think everyone knows what a runza is; it's just under another name. my friend sarah calls them pasties, and beth calls them kolaches. i call them runzas because that's what nebraskans call them. they are a meat-filled sweet dough. i think every culture on earth has a version. and they are DELICIOUS!

bon appetit! 

here comes the rain again

 

it's officially fall here. let's see how tough these pacific northwest winters really are! 

waterfall wrap-up

so by the time friday rolled around, i was sick as a dog. poor kirsten had put in enough couch time, so we got out and drove to the gorge. the scenic columbia gorge highway was closed for a spell, so we missed a few of the good waterfalls, but we made it to the big daddy: multnomah falls. it's about 620 feet tall (2nd largest in no. amer., so i've heard) top and bottom combined. it's pretty impressive. i didn't venture on the short hike to the bridge spanning the second tier of the falls, but kirsten did. once she sends me pics, i'll post em. anyway, on the way back we stopped quickly at wakanea falls (i don't know if that's the real name of it--i sorta made that up). whatever it's called, it's not that impressive. i mean, if you see it after multnomah, you're in for a pretty big disappointment. but a waterfall is a waterfall, am i right? apparently you can't swing a dead cat in oregon without hitting a waterfall, or a scenic overlook. so i guess that's something.

waterfalls on friday

 
 
 
  

so wednesday, kirsten and i drove up to the coast. in the second set of pictures, you can see the viewpoint where we stopped and snapped a few photos of the view of mount st. helens. it's so distant that it's really hard to see the mountain (it's the following photo without sand and water in it).

it was a picture perfect day to sit at the beach. it started out cloudy, but the marine layer burned off pretty quickly as we ate our picnic lunch. we explored tide pools and saw crabs, anenomes, and ONE starfish. last time mike and i saw the tide pools it was teeming with starfish, so i'm blaming their current absence on the dead zone (look it up). it was a good time--it always is at the beach, you know.

after indian beach, we headed to tolovana beach which has great views of haystack rock. the sand was warm, the sky was clear, and the terns (i think? someone name that bird for me) were chillin. all in all a relaxing day. we totally avoided rush hour in the suburbs and made it home in record time. we went straight to the produce market to pick up grillin veggies for the evenings festivities.

indian and tolovana beaches

 
 
 
  

kirsten & me: just a couple of beaches.

 
 
 
  

the pictures after this post...

the first one is mount saint helens. there's a gorgeous view of the volcano from kevin and kim's apartment rooftop, where mike, kirsten and i all hung out wednesday evening. we grilled fresh veggies and ate delicious pie that kim (the pastry chef) made for dessert. it was then that i felt the cold coming on, but it was a fun time.

the second picture is of mike "crishing" mount hood. the wildfires east of the mountains make the view of the mountain somewhat hazy lately, but it looked really cool at sunset and moonrise.

the third and fourth pictures are the regular gratuitous face shots of mike and i. we really gotta stop that...

on the rooftop at kevin and kim's

 
 
 
  

well kirsten is here

and of course, for the first time since i've lived in portland, i am sick. i've been the least entertaining hostess on earth. i did take her to the coast and to multnomah falls. other than that it's been sofa city, sweetheart.

we did manage to snap a few pictures, but i'm still feeling really under the weather so i'll post them tomorrow or something.

it figures: i get four days off work and i spend them coughing and sneezing. it also hurts my throat to talk very much, so i'm silent, too.

good news!

i passed my GRE. i scored 440 on the math section (i guessed on approximately 75% of the questions), and a 610 on the verbal part. i needed a combined score of 1000 to be eligible for the graduate school i'm interested in.

hopefully by next spring, i'll be starting my classes!