Earlier this week my best friend turned the big 3-0 and swung by for an extended Portland visit. We took him out for a fancy meal at VQ (bacon wrapped dates stuffed with chevre and marcona almonds– zomg!) and on Saturday we had an impromptu picnic in the NW.

This was the first trip to Washington Park all three of us had made since becoming Oregonians and, while we just barely scraped the surface, I can’t wait to do some more exploring with my camera.

Huge trees, beautifully maintained rose gardens, it was the perfect setting for a weekend snack-fest.

And man, did we snack.

Like I said, it was an impromptu picnic so there was no preparation ahead of time. We just stopped off at the nearest grocery store and loaded up before crossing the bridge.

Sundried tomato hummus, spinach dip (which I hadn’t had in years!), peanut butter cups, sourdough bread, Fritos, baby carrots… The list goes on. Needless to say, I didn’t cook dinner that night.

Of course, we played video games, too. Mother Nature and Nintendo DS is a really underrated combination, in my opinion. In this photo Chris is trying to beat the first castle in Super Mario World for me (I suck at castles and ghost houses!), but I also just picked up Scribblenauts and am having a lot of fun with that.

Just before packing up we shot some awesome/ridiculous photos of each other. Ban fired off a good number of me being my usual obnoxious self. You can see that whole strip here.

Next weekend is my birthday and I plan on having an encore presentation of this afternoon. But, as I type this, it’s pouring rain outside, so we’ll just have to wait and see if the weather holds up.

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Filed under: Photography, Portland, Video Games

I got these in the mail yesterday as a surprise from one of my favorite gals, Ms. Jessica. Back when we both lived in Redding we used to hang like there was no tomorrow (remember when we dropped that jar of alfredo on Lake Boulevard, and there was a stain on the sidewalk for weeks?!).

Sadly, we haven’t actually been face to face since I got married and moved away, so it was extra special to recieve this random gift from her.

Anyway, she bought the earrings from this amazing Etsy shop, Shmuzz, who specializes in “jewelry designs from the road less traveled.”

What really got me hooked was the fact that the artist doesn’t stop at Mario Bros. & Zelda themed jewelry. Lovingly beaded earrings from Earthbound and Secret of Mana– photographed in front of original SNES cartridges– prove that this girl isn’t trying to profit off the video game niche, she’s just as addicted as the rest of us.

Shmuzz’s video game inspired creations go for $15-$20. I’ve been wearing my Yoshi ones since I got ‘em and can’t wait to get some more. And, of course, they accessorize with my tattoos oh so well ;)

Thanks Jess!

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Filed under: Art and Artists, Fashion, Geekery, Video Games, Wishlist

Earlier this week two of my best buds from Arcata drove over to Redding for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A lot of sitting around, twiddling our thumbs and waiting to go stand in line and wait some more happened. But since neither of them had ever really been here, Chris and I made sure to treat them to all the joys of this big-little city, however few they may be.

We started off with a lunch buffet at Priya, an amazing local Indian restaurant.

Followed by a trip to Collector’s Choice, where Allyson let her inner fangirl roam free.

And then Dairy Queen, which I hadn’t had since we were in Thailand (and, as noted in the video, the sizes were way smaller!).

Having them in town made me realize how much I take things like Dairy Queen for granted. Arcata has a cap on the number of corporations allowed within city limits, so a lot of things– like In ‘n’ Out– are nowhere to be found.

The next morning we went out to breakfast at Black Bear Diner, but not before this happened. It was a total accident, I swear!

Allyson fell in love with Black Bear’s mug. I’m not going to say she took it with her as a momento of this trip… Or did she?

Oh yeah, Chris was part of this whole adventure, but as per usual, he rarely allowed himself to be photographed.

He also gave up his ticket to the midnight showing so that Dorian could go– how sweet is that?! The next day I went to an evening showing with Chris, which means I technically saw HBP twice on opening day. Taking geekery to new heights!

I hope everyone who wants to see the new Harry Potter film has already gotten a chance to do so. I really believe it’s one of the most well-done so far, though it helps that I couldn’t even remember who the Half-Blood Prince is while watching it!

Everyone looked and played their parts superbly, and there was none of that awful CGI that we’ll look back on in 2 years and cringe (Grawp, anyone?). And since when is Draco Malfoy actually attractive?! I suspect it’s the turtlenecks.

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Filed under: Around Town, Geekery, Photography, Redding, Toothsome Things, Video

As you might imagine, after we got back to the campsite from hiking Lassen everyone was tired, hungry and ready for a nap.

We settled in for a relaxing night in front of the fire with good food, friends and conversation.

Mat proved to us that Chritsina wasn’t the only one with some fire up their sleeve. They don’t call him The Black Calderon for nothing!

Most everyone’s dinners were some sort of foil-cooked veggie concoction.

I made sweet potatoes with onion, garlic, rosemary and broccoli for dinner, and then sliced apples with cinnamon, sugar, walnuts, rice flour and lemon juice for dessert.

And, of course, many a frank ‘n’ bean were devoured.

The next morning we originally planned on doing some light hiking in the King’s Creek area, but everyone was still wasted from Saturday’s climb. So we enjoyed breakfast together and groups of people eventually started to slowly trickle out.

Just when Chris and I were getting ready to leave, I decided it would be a great idea to lock the keys in the truck. Oops! A first time for me, but everything turned out all right. The campground host radioed in a couple park rangers– one of them, I think we all agreed, was a total man-babe. They had slim jims, but apparently Toyotas are pretty hard to break into.

As it turned out, the passenger’s window was cracked enough that Chris was able to use a tent pole with duct tape on the end to pull the keys closer to the man-babe, who used a bent wire to pull them up to the window. We cheered, thanked them profusely and I immediately grabbed my camera from inside the truck to snap a few candids. You know… For, uh, posterity!

The rest of the trip home went without incident, except that I smelled like a campfire for two straight days and my forehead is peeling so bad I look like a burn victim. Owie.

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Filed under: Geekery, Photography, Redding, The Great Outdoors, Toothsome Things

Earlier this week Allyson let me take her D90 on a test drive. I pretty much fell in love with the video capabilities, but I’m still partial to my D50 when it comes to actually shooting photos. That might change once I get back to Redding and edit the photos I shot on her camera with my lenses.

If there were ever any doubt as to what a huge dork I am (or the dorks I like to keep as company), let these videos be the living proof! I mean, really? Krumping foxgloves? What was I thinking?

Enjoy, and have a nice weekend, y’all!

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Filed under: Geekery, Humboldt, The Great Outdoors, Video