Stuff to do Before Josh Turns 30: Pittock Mansion, Hollywood Theater, and All the Apparatus

Ever since we moved to the Portland area three years ago, I've been telling Josh that we need to visit the Pittock Mansion, since it combines things we both love: old houses and journalism. With Josh's 30th birthday looming ahead in less than a month, we finally made the effort.

Here are some things we saw:

The Mansion

Cool ceilings

Random cat portrait

Mt. Hood

Josh also wants to visit all of the older, independent theaters in Portland, so we went to the Hollywood Theater to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (since I have now read the trilogy). I'm not a huge fan of that part of Portland, but the theater is interesting.

I'm not sure what kind of face Josh is making, but the sun was directly in our eyes.

Detail

Finally, we made the trek downtown to see our friend's band All the Apparatus. I've been listening to their CD nonstop for the past couple weeks. They are really good, and if you ever find yourself downtown on a Saturday night, I recommend seeking them out on SW 5th and Morrison in downtown Portland.

The band

Our buddy Mike

Mike's wife (and my sister's sister-in-law) Sherrilyn

Here are some videos that Josh took of their performance:

Eliminating Fish Burps

I went to the doctor the other day and we had a long discussion about what vitamins I've been taking. I told her all about my foray into fish pills, and she remarked that she really hates the fishy aftertaste, which is why she takes fish pills with a little lemon in them.

Later, Josh and I were at the pharmacy and we found fish pills that purport to "eliminate fish burps." I couldn't stop giggling about it. I didn't buy them, but I should have. All the talk about fish burps has apparently made my stomach super sensitive, so now when I take my fish pills I can't help but burp. 

Sadly, I need my fish burps eliminated.

I Just Bought This Dress

I just bought this dress from Shabby Apple.

I hope it fits because I previously bought this dress:

 from JCrew and had to return it. It was oddly simultaneously huge and tiny. I don't think I have ever worn anything more unflattering in my life. I'm trying to find the perfect dress for summer weddings, but I haven't been having the best of luck.

Josh and Mercury (plus: being thankful for nerdy friends)

Josh took the cats to the vet the other day and we discovered that Mercury, our resident irascible fat cat has lost an entire pound (yay!) and that she has now graduated to Senior Cat status (being all of 8 years old now). When  Josh and I first started dating, Mercury hated him (probably because he would pick her up and pretend she was dancing), but in the past year or so Merc has really warmed up to him. Sometimes she will even approach him for snuggling! After bringing her back from the vet, however, Josh was sad to discover that they were in a fight. He texted me a few hours later when I was in class, though, because apparently she had forgiven him and they were friends again.

Tonight, this is what it looked like in the ShepAlder house:

Josh was loving Merc

Merc was loving Josh

Then Josh started singing "Paparazzi" and pretending I had caught him in the middle of a tryst. Mercury was clearly not amused.

I'm glad that they made up, though I'm a little jealous. Mercury was my only roommate for five years before I married Josh, and for a long time I was the only one she loved. Of course, Josh is the one that feeds her, so.... I understand.

In Other News:

I absolutely love new friends, especially when we find something in common about which we are both besotted. This week my friend and classmate Stephanie loaned to me her Wii copies of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" and "Evil Under the Sun" and I got to loan to her a couple of my Nancy Drew games. It has really made my week! Plus, she told me about where to get free kindle books. (BTW: I have a Kindle now, but I will probably write about that some other day). I love making friends who are as nerdy as I am!

Kevin Arnold vs. Food

Thanks to Netflix streaming, Josh and I have been watching "Man vs. Food," which is ordinarily on the Travel Channel. I like the show, but it can get distracting because the host, Adam Richman, looks a lot like a chubby version of Fred Savage. What do you think?

Adam Richman

Fred Savage

More Pictures of our Cats

When Mr. F was still a kitten, Josh captured this series of pictures:

Mr. F spots her prey, the elusive Pepsi Max....

.... plans her attack....

... then swiftly and inexplicably decides to nap.

Then the other day, I got this picture:

Josh with Mercury and Mr. F

You can sort of see in this picture how much bigger (and fluffier) Mr. F has become in the past year. She now outweighs Mercury (who is 8 years old) but at least five pounds!

In Other News:


My brother:

visited this weekend because I tried to set him up with my friend Nancy:

and we played Rock Band for several hours. I don't know how the date went, but it was fun hanging out with my brother for the weekend. 

I Made You a Beard

We got these in the mail today:

These yarn beards are courtesy of the lovely Erin Dollar at imadeyouabeard.com. Josh asked her to do green and yellow so we could wear them to Ducks games (and, you know, around the house). Erin is from Portland, so we like to think that we're supporting a local artist.

This is what it looks like off the face:

She even color-coordinated the backs!:

And she included these cute stickers (and business card):

I can tell, you're totally jealous.

In other news:

I started watching "Persons Unknown." I'm not sure yet how I feel about it, since it reminds me a lot of either a psych experiment done by some grad student in 1940 or the plot of Saw II. However, it fills the hole in my Summer tv watching schedule left behind by the cancellation of "Happy Town."