Gina does fine work with her camera. Me and the mountain up at Rocky Butte 

Mt Hood from Rocky Butte 

Long shadows in the evening light. Gina & I at Mt Tabor. 

the moon from Mt Tabor 

blue sky and white snow

Hello hello!

My weekend started with a friday night date with Matt. We went out to dinner at a place called Caldera. Afterwards we wanted to play shuffleboard and he knew of a bar that had a table. We drove there to find it weird & stocked with locals lording over the table. We had one drink & decided to go elsewhere. We ran into one of Matt's friends as we were leaving so he went with us to Hawthorne to have some drinks. We went to the Space Room first it was freakishly smoky and packed so we went across the street to the Bar of the Gods. I had a really nice time talking with the guys and drinking my amber ales.

Saturday I watched I, Robot in the morning (eh) and later went over to Elaine & Gina's house. It was really beautiful out so Gina & I decided to go play outside. First we drove up to Rocky Butte in NE Portland. It was perfectly clear out so the views of the mountains was incredible. Mt Hood was a colossal white peak and Mt St Helens had some steam coming from its crater. We took a bunch of pictures on Gina's camera and soaked up the beautiful views. I can't believe I've never been there before. We left Rocky Butte and stopped to get some coffee before going up to Mt Tabor. We walked up to the top and looked towards downtown in the evening light.

We then stopped at the grocery store to pick up some stuff for dinner. Elaine had cooked a corned beef so we made reubens and cabbage with bacon. After we ate we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which I LOVE. It was only 9 o'clock at that point so I decided to go over to Dave & Kate's house. They were hosting a little get together with beers, spiced cider and christmas cookies. It was fun to see some friends there that I haven't seen in a while.

Sunday I woke up early and met up with Elaine, Terry & Jason to go frisbee golfing. We drove out to Dabney Park which has an 18 hole course. It was only my second time playing and I think it's so much fun. I had some terrible throws into the blackberry brambles and on top of a holly tree. way to go elaine-climbing the tree and shaking it down! I also had some good throws and most importantly had a great time. About half way through it started misting on us but the real rain didn't start until we were driving home so we were lucky to have gone out early.

I went home and chatted on the phone with Becky while I made some beef stew (5 hours at 275=tender yumminess!). Jess came over and we exchanged Christmas gifts and talked and watched a movie "Collateral". Tom Cruise was quite menacing and Jamie Foxx was excellent. So that was my weekend!
On Friday I'll be taking the train up to Bellingham to spend a few days with my sister. I'm so excited about taking the train for the first time and so happy to be able to hang out with Sara.

I hope you all have WONDERFUL Christmas with your family and friends. I'll be thinking of you!

xoxo,
carolyn

we played skip-bo! gina & elaine 

ahhh....the glow of the christmas tree 

way to go timer! all the girls! 

Gina & I enjoy a cosmopolitan at Molly's Girl Party! 

wanna buy a photo card?

Hello everyone!

I had a really great weekend! Friday night I went over to Molly's house in Sellwood. She was hosting a girl's night/sleepover. We all brought appetizers so there was lots of food and drinks and girls. It was really fun. We played some games and talked and snacked. Later in the night a bunch of them walked to a neighborhood bar for a few drinks. I was still getting over being sick so I elected to stay at the house and go to bed pretty early (1:30 not 5:30!) Going to bed early also meant I scored an actual bed to sleep in rather than the floor and my sleeping bag.

The next morning we met up with some people at the Doug Fir for breakfast. It was really fun and I was happy to be feeling even better and eating eggs benedict! Elaine and I worked on the crossword while we waited for our food.

Later in the day I hung out with Matt (cute boy I gave my phone number to last friday). I like him! we had hung out several times earlier in the week and we're going out for dinner tonight. I have a very nice time with him and am so glad that I met him. who knew!?

Saturday evening I went to Jess' house. We drove to New Seasons to order sandwiches and then we watched "The Big Lebowski" at her house. that movie cracks me up! the dude abides.

Sunday I volunteered at the musuem. there's a new exhibit up of Childe Hassam's work. he's an american impressionist who visited Oregon several times in the very early 1900's. His paintings of the eastern Oregon deserts and Mt Hood are beautiful! when my shift was done Gina picked me up. We drove into northwest portland to grab some lunch. We decided to eat at Goosehollow. We walked in and were suprised by how dark it was....their power was out. It was freakishly windy on Sunday so lots of people were without power. They were still serving cold sandwiches and beer so we stayed and ate. We got a booth by the window so there was more light but I did use their bathroom which was pitch black. Thankfully gina had a lighter which helped immensely. haaaaaaaa

After lunch we got some coffee and checked out a holiday gift sale in the coffee shop. We were really checking out the competition since gina & I were selling our own stuff at a holiday sale that evening. Gina's friend works at a cafe in the Pearl District (schmancy gallery area of Portland) where the sale was held. We set up the tables and set out our stuff. gina was selling necklaces that she makes and I was selling my photo cards ($2.50 a piece or 5 for $10). I made around $30. I was really excited because it's the first time I've sold them. Normally I just send them myself or give them as gifts to people. It felt so great to have money in my pocket that didn't come from my paycheck. People I work with have been encouraging me strongly to do something more with them so I was really happy to be invited to have a table at the holiday sale! yeah!

I'll get some pictures off the hilbert's digital camera & post them later this week.

So that was my weekend! Let me know what you've been doing!

hope all is well!

xox,
carolyn

carolyn re-enters the dating pool

Hello everyone!

I had a nice mellow weekend here. Friday night I met someone at the Barley Mill Pub for a few beers and rounds of darts. I guess it was sort of a date though it was very casual. While I enjoyed his company and it was nice to meet someone new I don't see us going out again. This is big stuff for me though...I haven't really "dated" in 9 years so it's definitely good practice for me.

After I left the Barley Mill I met up with Gina and Dave at the Twilight where Dave's friend was playing a show. We had a great time talking in the booth and I even gave my number to a cute boy (brother of the musician playing)! teehee! From there we took a cab over to the Bonfire to meet up with Elaine and Paul who had done a catering job that night. We ordered some food and hung out until late. It was a really fun friday night.

Saturday I woke up too early. I'm not very good at sleeping in past 9 AM. I watched 42 Up which is the last of the 7Up series to be released. It was interesting to learn that one of the original 7 year old boys from england was a physics professor at UW-Madison the whole time I was going to school there. who knew! I talked on the phone with Camille for some time as she is in Idaho for a while.

Later Elaine picked me up & drove Dave & I down to the Twilight to retrieve our cars. I stopped by their house and hung out with them for a little while. I had a lovely late afternnon nap and then that evening Gabriel came over and we watched Spider Man 2 which had some great action sequences and some cheeseball dialogue. oh well.

Sunday I watched an immensely better movie, Dogville. It stars Nicole Kidman & was directed by Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark). It was an excellent movie that is still haunting me(a la Dancer in the Dark). It was very long and very provocative and would strongly recommend it to anyone that likes intense, thoughtful movies. wow! After that I really needed some human interaction so I went over to hang out with Gina. We went to the store to get the makings of burritos and bean dip. mmmmmm! Afterwards we played some skip bo with Elaine. it was a pretty laid back sunday for me!

so that's the latest. Let me know what you've been doing & how your weekend was. I hope all is well.

much love!

carolyn