This Is Portland, Oregon!!

Do you want a look at the town we call home? Then watch our claim to fame. 

Portlandia

This is such a funny show.

It's in the Cutting Edge section of On Demand under IFC. 

Downton Abbey

I am in love  . . . with Downton Abbey. Oh my it is sooo good. Julian Fellows is brilliant. He has created a story that is so gripping I dread the coming of the ending credits.

Julian Fellows is so talented. He is an actor, director, writer. He wrote Gosford Park, Young Victoria,  and Downton Abbey and much much more. But I love him the best as Kilwillie in 

Monarch Of The Glen. He is so funny.

What a talented fellow :)

If you haven't started watching Downtonw Abbey I would highly suggest trying to find the episodes and getting caught up.

Cheers!!

GO DUCKS!!!!!

I am a Duck!

Yes I am.

You have to check this out    U Of O Power Ballad

to understand the love we all feel for the Ducks!

We Love Our Ducks!!

Happy Halloween ~A Day Late

So much has been going on here. I am trying to organize a gift show that I am hosting, toss together Joe's birthday party, and get ready for the Shop For Makenzie show and a Murryhill Show.

So here's a late Happy Halloween and a picture of what a Autumn Oregon morning looks like.

A FUN WEBSITE!

Pantone

This website predicts color trends and is really fun to check out.

Enjoy

A Day At The Beach

Last year I took these photos but I just found them and realized I never shared. So here goes:

Last Summer, Oregon had one of the lowest tides on record. So, some friends including a marine biologist friend of ours met up at the Coast to explore and here is what we found-

All of this is usually underwater. I believe the sea life was feeling a little naked.

This is an actual road, the original old timers road but when they constructed Highway 101 they moved the road further inland.  This road is rarely exposed because the sea has taken it over completely. You can still see the ruts in the rocks.

All around us we could hear the little snaps and crackles coming from the sea life.

Every inch of ground was covered in a living organism. 

Here is another view of the old timers road. I believe the story goes, that the original road could only be used part of the time until high tide. It was difficult for communities to contact each other.  Kinda romantic if you ask me. Sure, I can think that (the girl who can't stand to be without a Starbucks).

All of this is underwater.

This was so cool. Sometimes I forget how beautiful Oregon is and how much history

we have right in our backyard.

Back To School

My boys went off to school today. I already miss them. I was so not ready for my babies to go. As the minutes tick by I wonder how they are doing.

But I did get to go JoAnn Fabric with a friend today and we saw all the moms with their babies. It made both of us very sad until one of the little babies started throwing a fit and then we sighed and smiled at each other. 

    

I know it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas but I have been working on some items for a show in December that I am going to try and

get into. Thought I would share. 

I have also been working on some Halloween postcards and I was going to do a tutorial but my camera battery died. So it will have to wait. But here is a photo of some of the postcards I have been making.

Enjoy!

With This Ring

Three years ago on my birthday my husband and I saved up some money to buy myself a unique wedding ring. I had always wanted something different and artistic.

This may sound odd.

Let me example, I had been married at the time for 17 years (tomorrow it will be 20 years yikes! time flies). I love my husbands ring that he gave me. It was his mother's and I cherish it but the diamond stood up and I was so afraid of losing it that I ended up not wearing it. 

So I began the search for something really unique. I don't know the correct jewelry term but I wanted the diamonds or sapphires to be embedded flat into the ring. I thought this would be less trouble and the likelihood of losing any of the gems would be less. I wanted something low maintenance but still artistic. 

I looked and looked. This was a big deal for me because I don't get to spend money on jewelry very often. There is always somewhere else the money has to go.  

My friend suggested that I go to Twist a cool shop here in the Northwest. So I did and I found a wonderful artist named Gabriel O'Fiesh I fell in love with his Orbit Rings. My friend has one and loves it. The rings are so beautiful.

My heart still flutters when I look at them.

Five Months Ago - I noticed two of the sapphires had fallen  out and the girl at Twist told me a diamond was cracked.

I was heart broken. I never thought I was hard on my rings. My old ring had lost only one diamond in 17 years. And I actually didn't wear this Orbit ring that much (to my dismay) because it was tight on my finger. I really didn't have the money to put into the ring but what could I do?

End of a long story and five months later, I had to pay $128.00 to get my ring fixed. The owners of Twist were kind enough to pay half.

Basically, the conclusion to why this happened was that I am too hard on my ring. I found out that Gab said, this ring probably wasn't a good choice for me.

What the What!

When I picked up my ring today the girl told me all the things I couldn't do while wearing this ring.

Basically live.

No clapping, no grabbing hand railings, blah blah blah.

If I would have only known. Now I guess I only wear this ring on special occasions and get yet another for every day use.

Note: Gab suggested he replace the sapphires which aren't as durable ( I wish I would have known that) 

with blue diamonds.

I am very happy with the new blue diamonds they are just as pretty as the sapphires. But now I am back to square one. I guess I need to get a ring out of the vending machine at the grocery store.

Oh well, a lesson learned.

Summer Lighting

No photo can conveys the beauty of tonight's sunset. The world has been cast in a warm burnt sienna glow. This is my favor time of day. It seems everything has a tan.

Twilight drops her curtain down and pins it with a star.

                                                 Lucy Maud Montgomery

Mad Men Yourself

I LOOVVVEEEE MAD MEN!

So my friend told me about Mad Men yourself. Check this out: Made Men Yourself

This is me in Mad Men.

This is me meeting Don for drinks after a hard day of shopping.

 But Don is kinda a jerk so I tossed my drink in his face and left the bar soon after.  

 I had so much fun creating myself that I almost burnt dinner.

Keeping The Boys Of Summer Busy And Giving Back Some

Today we did our first stint into the volunteer arena. We bagged apples for the Oregon Food Bank. It was great. Very well organized and the work wasn't too hard for our little ones- 8 and 9 year olds.

We bagged a total of 1,486 lbs. of apples. They estimate 1.3 lbs. a meal which equates to 1,143 meals for hungry families. 

The boys had a great time. I highly recommend it.  

Just call your local food bank and sign the kids up. They learned a lot about who has been needing the food and how important it is especially in today's economy.

Remebering My Dad~ Thanks For The Memories

Remembering my dad~ Ray Purscelley 1919-2008

There are certain things that remind me of my dad. These memories, I hope to pass on

to my boys, Jack and Joe.

I know Dad's voice, touch, and presences is fading from their young minds. But I hope to bring him to life by pointing out the little things that were so much a part of him. If I don't then my dad's life will die with me.

Sometimes at night,when the windows are open we can hear a far off train whistle.

I always stop and I tell my boys to think of Grandpa Ray.

My dad was one of those teenagers who road the rails

during the Great Depression.  A wonderful documentary

on this is called Riding The Rails~ An American Experience.

When we camp in Central Oregon I tell them of the summers spent fishing and swimming on the Deschutes River. To this day things I cherish are warm summer evenings in the

high desert of Central Oregon and the sound of coyotes.

The Deschutes River. Ahhh, so many memories of this cold beautiful river.

It is absolutely the best river to swim in. Its coolness is very much appreciated on a hot day. We love rafting and floating down this river. The surrounding landscape feels like home to me. 

So here's to you dad. I miss you very much. And as my boys favorite movie star, Bob Hope, sang~

Thanks For The Memories.

The Colors Of The Northwest

Let me try to describe what we, in the Northwest, are currently going through.

Typically the weather in May is kinda iffy. And early May, to be honest, is really iffy but then it turns warmer and clearer. Sometimes we even experience really warm days. Slowly as June approaches so do the warm sunny days. It's not constant and if you plan a picnic in May or June there is a good chance it will be cloudy with drizzle.  BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS!

Is there a sun? Are we in February? What is up? 

It has been a complete soggy mess up here. I have lived in this area of the country my entire life and I have never experienced this degree of rain and wet. Everything is drenched in thick droplets.  Some part of me loves it. The other part says enough is enough.

So today I am trying to think of the good things about this rain. Hmmm. 

Oh here goes, our abundant vigorous vegetation which is everywhere you look seems to be bursting with shades of moss, lime, evergreen, and spearmint. The gray sky even has a life of its own.

The boys and I counted four different shades of gray in the sky (who knew there where so many shades of gray). We counted steel, charcoal, grandma's hair, and the color of Joe's baseball pants. All of these shades seem to show up in the sky at varying times. (see what we do when we have no baseball and are stuck in the house- FUN! I call it. Jack has a different word for it.) Jack says at least I'm not making them watch Pride and Prejudice for the 10th time.

Finally, the other color of the Northwest is black as in my coffee. It's the color that gets me through these wet green gray days.

The Dreaded Conference Call

The other day I had a conference call at work. It went okay. Nothing out of the ordinary but it made me think of a conference call that still haunts me to this day.

Here’s how it went.

A long time ago in a state not so far away, I was promoted to a very intense position within my company. Three days after moving to Seattle and the start of my new job, my boss (the man who hired me) was fired. (not a good sign).

Boss-less, I received no training and very little communication from the Home Office until . . . my new boss arrived. He was incredibly intimidating and hard to get along with. Basically, he was down right, mean. I called him, Nazi Boss.

One fateful day, Nazi Boss, being the kind man he was, told me I had a corporate conference call in five minutes. The topic of the call - my counterpart in the Rocky Mountain Region and I were to give the company big wigs an overview of what we were dealing with during new store openings. Over 30 people were going to be on the line all wanting to hear information from ME. I had no prep time.

This was just peachy. I was to be on the line with my companies, CEO, CFO, VP of Logistics, VP of Visual Merchandising, VP of Merchandising . . .blah blah blah. Get the picture? Also, on the call was my really irritating counterpart in Denver. Her name was also Ann, but with an E. I’m just plain old A N N.

I, not so lovingly, called Anne, Rocky Mountain Mama, but not to her face.

To add more misery to the situation, Rocky Mountain Mama, was a loud mouth, pushing woman, who interrupted, and got her opinions heard whether or not anyone wanted to hear. She was a favorite at the Home Office and a seasoned veteran. How could I get a word in edgewise with her on the line? This was not looking good.

With three minutes to go, Nazi Boss, asked if I’d like to take the call, in his office or down in mine. Since, I couldn’t imagine bluffing my way through questions, with him staring at me, I opted for my office.

“Office”, is a generous term. My “office” was a 4x4 converted utility closet in the very back of the stockroom. As I slowly weaved through freight and hopped over furniture to get to my office, I remember thinking, Dead Woman Hopping. Then I heard Nazi Boss shout, “Be sure to be vocal on the call. This is going to make or break your reputation in the company.”

My heart stopped pumping. Crap! He knew I hated conference calls. He knew I was still feeling terribly inexperienced.

At high noon, Northwest time, I sat staring at the phone, wishing it would blow up so I wouldn’t have to take the call. No such luck. The operator patched us all in (no connection problems, dang it!).

The CEO, took roll call, and I said, "Yes, I’m here." That was the last time anyone heard from me until the faithful moment of shame.

As the minutes ticked by, Rocky Mountain Mama, was answering all the questions. She commandeered the entire thing. Each time I thought I had an answer or a situation to discuss, she would talk over me and say it louder and clearer. I would start to say something and she would finish whatever it was I was about to say. I had no idea what to do. Utterly frustrated, and feeling tremendous pressure to say something, anything, I . . . I blurted out, “Excuse me.”

There was silence. Oh Holy Night. This was the worst feeling in the world.

“Yes, Ann, in Seattle go ahead,” the CEO’s deep voice answered.

Oh Holy Carmen Miranda!

What had I just done?

I had nothing to say.

NOTHING!

I couldn’t contribute; Rocky Mountain Mama, had said everything I could think of. I was in a pickle.

I could feel my lips moving. I couldn’t stop them. I had to say something anything to get the attention off me. So, the meaningless words just fell out. “I agree with what Anne said. I’m having the same issues.”

Silence

Complete silence, except for a clearing of a throat, a snicker, and a snort.

Saying I felt like I wanted to die would have been an understatement.  My heart dropped in unison with my head.

The CEO spoke up. “Anything else, Ann in Seattle?”

My mind was blank completely blank. I squeaked, “No.”

The CFO, cleared his throat and said, “Well, thank you Ann in Seattle, for your contribution and insight. Now Anne in Denver, what else have you been dealing with?”

The call dragged on for what seemed like hours. When it was over, I muttered a goodbye and waited for Nazi Boss, to march down to my “office”.

It only took two minute.

He pushed open the door and said, “What the hell was that?” He was shaking his head. I tried not to cry. But I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as his angry face stared at me. I shrugged my shoulders and muttered that I was sorry. Nazi Boss, turned on his heels and marched back to his office.

Did Nazi Boss, have a heart? I was young and had no experience, no training. I was dropped off in a building and left for dead. Why couldn’t he just help me? Weren’t we a team way up in the big bad Northwest?

Rather dramatic don’t ya think?

Follow-Up:

It took several months, but Nazi Boss, turned in his swastika for Starbucks Gift Cards and became my ally. He realized I had an aptitude for my job and I realized he was nervous too. We both went on to win several awards and become one of the highest grossing regions in our company.

But my little conference call debacle didn’t quietly go away. At a meeting in Fort Worth, someone asked if I was the Ann that made an ass of herself on the "famous" conference call. I swallowed hard and calmly said, “No, that was Ann with an E, from the Rocky Mountain Region.”

I did feel a little guilty about that one.

I Have A Secret

I LOVE Indian Jones.

Whenever the mood hits me I have to have coffee and sit for awhile in my den. My den reminds me of Indy's house and when I sit and read in there I can imagine myself as Marian.

Sigh.

Time can slip away from me in that little corner of my house.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade (the middle Indian Jones and the recent Kingdom Of The Skull thingy are awful -stay away) are two of my favorite movies. Ones I can watch over and over again. There is something so comforting about those films. Maybe it's watching Harrison Ford when he was young and looking so very handsome in his late 1930's early 1940's garb.

Its definitely not comforting watching him now. It's hard getting old.

Thought For Today

When I came to a stop yesterday in my car I flipped down my vizor to check out the rats nest known as my hair and I saw something startling . . . . .

MY RIGHT EARLOBE IS SAGGING!

OH HOLY NIGHT!

I am truly truly old. Furthermore, as I was working today I felt my neck sagging. I have never asked an older person if they can feel there skin sagging but if I did I think they would say yes they can.

Sentimental Journey

I am a sentimental soul. Some would say a sentimental fool but I can't seem to help it.

A lot of people aren't sentimental at all. My sister in fact, says she doesn't have an ounce of sentimentality in her bones. And she doesn't.

Why me?

My sister and I came from the same family, you would think we'd be similar.

So where does my sentimentality come from? I can't tell you, but I can tell you it happens to be fixated on the years 1940-1945. Those War Year's pluck at my heart like nothing else.
I only truly feel relaxed listening to music from that era.

When my good friend bought me an old scrapbook from the 1940's at an estate sale in Carmel, I was very excited. I thought of all the things I could do with it, cut it up, rip the pages out, make collages . . .

But once I got my hot little hands on it, I couldn't put it down, let alone cut it up.

As I was reading through the brittle pages I got a little teary eyed. The estate manager told my friend that there was no one left in the Bishop family, so the scrapbook was being sold.

The pages are chuck full of every aspect of Mrs. Bishop's life. From her c-section receipt, and baby food list, to old cards, and letters from loved ones fighting in WW II. I keep thinking Mrs. Bishop would probably cry if she knew some stranger was looking through her stuff. It breaks my heart.

So so many memories lovingly glued into a book and so much life just sold off to a stranger.

So Mrs. Bishop, where ever you are, I want you to know I hold your memories dear to me. Reading through your scrapbook is a reminder of lonely times, but also how one woman kept the home fire burning, passing time, keeping memories in her book to show to her husband if he returned home to her and their little baby boy.

Oh Summer Hurry Up!/Started New Job

This is the beginning of my second week of work.

Things I learned last week:

1. What PFA means- please find attached. Like duh!
2. The meaning of "Generation Gap"- yep it does exist.
3. Gap doesn't cover the full depth of the distance between a well seasoned woman of . . .shall we say forty-something and non-seasoned 24 year old. Maybe crevasse would be a better way to put it. Generation Crevasse hmmm I'll have think about it.
4. I now know how to instant message or as hip people say IM. Yippee! I feel alive!

Four things in one week. I can't wait to see what I learn this week. Stay tuned.

Dreaming Of Summer

January, February and March are so grueling. Sometimes it's hard to believe we really do have nice hot summers here in the Northwest.

When my feet are cold and the weather is so dark and rainy, I like to look back at warm weather photos of friends and family and remember that yes, indeed, it does get warm here and we do go to the beach and mountains in shorts and we do play in the water.

Just hold on. Summer is coming.

Okay, this isn't funny!

I am so excited.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/emma/index.html

This Sunday Masterpiece Theater is showing a new Emma with Romola Garai. She played Cassandra in I Capture The Castle, one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite all time books.

Jonny Lee Miller is playing Mr. Knightly. I loved him in Mansfield Park with Frances O'Connor. I think he did a wonderful job as Edmund.

Put this on your calendar. Sunday 24th 9:00 Pacific Masterpiece Theater Emma.

If you click on the link I provided you can take the Bachelors Of Highbury Quiz, just like I did.

Well, guess who I ended up with?

Mr. Henry Woodhouse.

Yeah think?

Yep, you got it.

Emma's elderly father. What the What?

(I provided a photo just so you can get a visual. Up top)

Thank you very much Masterpiece. I have always liked older men but not elderly. :)