My view landing in Portland:

I couldn't have asked for a better culmination to my summer travels than the beautiful state of Oregon. For my readers: WARNING - I still think I work for the Oregon Tourism Board. Even though I actually haven't, I tout Oregon as the best place on earth. I heart Oregon the most of all. Browse my pics of Oregon, as well as a few from Jess and Dan's wedding. If there is one thing I've learned over the years - professional photographers take much better pictures than I do, so I don't even try.

My summer travels have seen me in Austin, Texas, back 'home' in Delaware (YEAH JOE BIDEN), New Jersey, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon (twice), Taos/Angel Fire, New Mexico, Crested Butte and all over Wisconsin. Yep - it's been a busy one. I never did get around to that pop culture contest, did I? Okay - I promise it's coming in September. I'll have a lot more time this month. Who would have thunk that Dolph Lundgren would be such a popular topic...

Back to Oregon. Ah, Oregon. Do I miss thee. I would move back to Portland in a heartbeat and I don't think I speak only for myself. I'm pretty sure that most of the close friends that I met there would move back, too. You see, the thing about Portland is that no one knows just how great of a place it is. When I was moving to Colorado, I used to get so annoyed, and still get annoyed when people say 'Oh, Colorado, Beautiful!' You know, it is gorgeous and there are a lot of things that I enjoy about my life here. However, it's not even close to how much I enjoyed Portland. Not even a tiny bit. I could go on forever, but I'll spare you.

Another thing I know - I have an amazing set of friends. I'm sure all people say that, but I really do. I'm still close with the guys and gals from high school, most people I met while in college, and those I've met in Portland and Colorado. Driving through the Columbia River Gorge in the morning, only to catch sunset over the Rockies led me to realize how lucky I am. I'm lucky to have lived in and traveled to such gorgeous places, and am really lucky to have the friends I do. I wish that the contingents of people that I know on the east coast, west coast and the fly over states could all just move to one central place. That would be the life. Anywho...I should stop now before I start crying balling like I did during my speech at the wedding this weekend.

Summer of travels '08 is now over.

Oh, and to top it all off, Burnie (no, it's BURN-IE - that's some pop culture trivia for you, right there) not only pet sat for us once again, but I came home to an autographed copy of Mike Gordon's new CD that he got from the Fox show. Pretty sweet gift and he owes me nothing, nada, zero. I owe him a lot more, believe you me. See - good friends, I tell you.

Tags: travel, friends, phish

I think I love Wisconsin more than Skymall.

I really do. Every part of our trip to Wisconsin I enjoyed immensely; fishing with Doug and his father on a 15,000 acre lake in the north woods, having absolutely scrumptious meals cooked by his mother everyday, seeing good friends in Madison (my first visit to Madison) and celebrating at Mike and Becky's wedding. 

Oh, and not to mention The Terrace. I loved the University of Delaware and wouldn't trade my college days for anything. However, I have to admit, this is slightly better than the Deer Park Tavern (although the history is amazing) or The East End. Madison is a good place. Here's a pic of Doug on the Terrace overlooking Lake Mendota:

Check out some pics of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage (the lake where Doug's parent's cabin is), Madison, friends, the wedding and various other fun stuff. 

Tags: travel, friends, family

I've been really busy lately and now I'm just too tired to post anything of significance. I had planned on it, but it's just not happening.

So, I thought I'd share our poker night pics with you from this weekend. Enjoy.

Here are the cards I was dealt most of the night:

Here's a few more:

If you want to check out pictures from the night and others - check out my pics on Fllickr.

Tags: friends

After talking with my boss this morning, I realized I had a very 'Stuff White People Like' Weekend. I just enjoyed getting out - went to the movies, took Zoe to the dog park, watched some hockey, played tennis and soaked up some sun on the porch. If you haven't seen the site yet, make sure to check out my favorite posts; #73 Gentrification, #9 Making you feel bad about not going outside and #87 Outdoor peformance clothes.

Now the highlights:

Went to see Smart People with Rebekah. I'd give it a 3 - Rent it. All of the acting was pretty good, but I really thought Thomas Haden Church was the best addition to the movie. I've liked him since he was the dumb mechanic in Wings. Stop laughing, I really did watch that show, the guys were relatively cute. Anyway, seems as though I should devise a bit of a movie rating system as I tend to watch a lot. The scores are as follows (that's for the Portland Oh Hell crew):

1. Must see in the movie theater
2. Save it in your netflix que so you get it as soon as it's available
3. Rent it
4. Ah, might as well, you've got nothing better to do
5. Nope - don't waste your time

However - the movie wasn't the highlight of Saturday night. Rebekah's kick ass cruiser was (as well as having some fried food at Ruby's and chatting with her). Her cruiser is the best one I've seen yet. Huge fan of the over sized basket and the bright color.

Another highlight - Natalie coming over to 'plan' on the porch. I got a pretty good little sunburn. Perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Another great highlight: I took 3 games from Doug in our tennis match. Usually I only take 1, if that. I'm still pretty proud. If this is any indication of how our summer is going to go, I'm all about it. Tennis, anyone?

Tags: stuff white people like, smart people, cruiser bike, tennis courts in boulder, movie reviews, friends