oh, how I miss the internet.

Well, first off: I am no longer an internet junkie.
My work installed all sorts of crazy internet security systems and so my blogging, chatting, facebooking, etc has all come to a halt. Thank goodness for my fancy phone (which allows me to stay connected during the day, but just a bit), I had no idea how attached to communication I am.

Honestly, this is really difficult for me. All of the sudden I feel disconnected from so many.
So, I had to carve out a night in which to upload photos, write a blog, chat with friends, and the like. This is strange. It would seem that my blogging will be less frequent. Unless I figure out a way to post blogs from iGoogle, in which case, we may be in business.

Secondly.
Holy moses, we have a new president. I definitely stray away from talking politics on this here blog (my readership is quite varied in opinion) but I will say this: we are in for some changes. Lord only knows what those changes might be, but things will be different. I am not anxious about the future, and for the most part I'm excited. I'll say it, I like Barack. But I am not putting my hope in him. He's human, after all. I'm just glad this election mess is over and we can all go back to concentrating on other things. Really, there are better things to think about. (Gasp! Blasphemy! I know.)

And, lastly, the last couple weeks have been a blur of busy, but they have been good. The beach weekend was absolutely fantastic. It was everything you wanted a beach weekend to be: relaxing, romantic, beautiful, inspiring, and full of good friends and AMAZING food. Seriously, we ate like KINGS! I am thankful for my friends, I am thankful for my wonderful boyfriend, and I am thankful for long(ish) drives home with fall colors and falling leaves and listening to Sufjan Steven's Illinois all the way through (We were in love! We were in love! Palisades! Palisades!). I honestly think the drive back was quite possibly the most beautiful drive of my entire life. It was magic.

Kristin came into town for Halloween (which was also magic), and it was so nice to have an old friend here for the holiday. Kristin, Nich, and I dressed up as Project Runway peoples and while no one had ANY clue who I was, I still had a blast. It only got slightly annoying the 8th time I got asked if I was Katy Perry. Like, seriously? There is some photo evidence of the night on facebook currently, I'll try to get them on flickr or something soon.

Kristin and I also visited the Velveteria, which is the only museum of velvet paintings in the world. awesome! There were so many amazing paintings -- Unicorns, Bat Boy, Willie Nelson, Polar Bears - you name it, they had it. Its only 5 dollars to get in and it is only open on weekends. Best 5 bucks I ever spent. We also took a trip to Oaks Park to visit the Roller Skating rink. Kristin collects pressed pennies, and by 'surfing the web' we found that you could get a Rollerskating Squirrel pressed onto the penny. Done and done. All I can say to you Portland people is: please go to the roller skating rink at Oaks Park. Please! It is old fashioned with a beautiful wood floor and while it is a little pricey ($7.25 was my total after skate rental) it was worth it. First of all, this is a legitimate and competitve roller skating rink from the 1950's. There are lanes for backwards and forwards skating, as well as a center area for 'tricks'. There is a HUGE Wurlitzer organ hanging from the middle of the ceiling and a little old man (by the name of Gary Russel) playing the organ from a little glass box on the side of the rink. They play showtunes! And Elvis Presley! And the sound of music! On a HUGE Organ in the middle of a skating rink! And, they had a large oversized chipmunk/squirrel thing (roller skating rink mascot, apparently) walking around. Sadly, it wasn't skating. Buuuuut, it was still awesome.


My heart is good, my head is good, my body is even starting to feel a little better.
Portland in the fall is magic.
Come see Denison Witmer, Day of Lions, and Kelli Schaefer tonight.
:)