Today I was obsessed with reflection photos...the live in - not so much.  He hates them, actually.  Not sure if he is embarrassed by the fact that we are smiling and posing into a mirror/window/door, or what... 

This is my fave.  I love the colors, and the bus in the background...

Balloon Fiesta

I am uploading today's photos off of my camera (only one memory card - you know the story) and I wanted to share one with you.  I'll have stories and many, many more photos for you when we get back.  This truly is such an amazing event...

Chad (the fish)

Since we’re going to be gone for a few days I decided to drop Chad off at daycare. AKA my work. The car ride in wasn’t so fun for him, but I think all of the attention he’s been getting since arriving has more than made up for it. Chad isn’t so different from his namesake really, they both crave the spotlight.

Am I worried about leaving Chad with 15 or so non semi-aggressive beta fish owners? A teeny bit. The first question one of my co-workers asked me this morning is if I would be upset if Chad died. And if that didn’t give me the warm and fuzzys someone else asked if he would just eat anything they put in his tank. Hmm.

I was also reminded that if we have children I was not allowed to bring them in, drop them off with some food, and come back in 5 days like I am doing with Chad. Yes, I know. This is the very reason we have a semi-aggressive beta. Not a dog. Not a cat.

Really - I think Chad will be just fine. I’ve placed him next to a smokin’ picture of Tim Tebow, left detailed instruction about his care, and even pulled the shades down so he won’t boil to death.

Fingers crossed!

Chad (the boy)

The great news about having a celebrity crush on Chad is that he always gives you something to talk about...
Check out his little cereal mix up story, here.  I have to admit, it made me laugh!

Santa Fe Faves?

Here’s to hoping the next two weeks fly by. The live in and I have a lovely little getaway planned to Santa Fe that I absolutely can’t wait for.

We also added an extra night to the beginning of our trip to catch Albuquerque’s famous balloon fiesta! (How nerdy, I know.) Which, the live in was a really good sport about – considering we’re missing an Oregon State Football game. But, to be perfectly honest, it was a surprisingly easy conversation to have with him and it took about 15 minutes of him “thinking about it” before he was just as excited as I was. So there you go live in fans. I did not stifle his football season fun by force. He agreed. On his own free will. That’s the power of a good vacation I guess.

Have you been to Santa Fe? Email/comment me with your faves!

{photos from the hotel we're staying at}

WWTBCD?

This post isn’t really funny. It’s not even that interesting. I just wanted to give a shout out to my girl, The Barefoot Contessa.

On Friday night the live in and I hosted a dinner party.

In true Troy & Erica form we waited until the last minute to pick up the main ingredient for our dinner. The live in and I only know of one place to buy this item and when the live in stopped in on Friday afternoon they were sold out. Major bummer and major problem.

Instead of panicking or turning our frustration into road rage we remained calm and asked…WWTBCD?

Well, we thought, she would pull out her favorite bottle of wine and send Jeffrey to get Thai takeout. And so that’s what we did. Except I sent the live in. Not Jeffrey.

And everyone ate in happiness.

Here's a few pics of our most recent garden harvest.  Corn!  We ate our first teeny tiny ears on Friday with dinner.  So good. 

{Peppers getting ready to be roasted for salsa!}

I went and picked up our passports today from our safe deposit box.
The live in was flipped through his.
He has a stamp from Munich.
He said, "we've never gone through Munich."
I said, "yes, we have."
He said, "oh that's right...that's when I had the gun pulled on me."
And we went about our dinner.

I do love him.

Nature

Over the weekend we:

Camped. Went wine tasting. Met a nice couple from Oklahoma. Picked lavender. Stopped at fruit stands. Went on a hike. Saw a waterfall on our hike. Ate three cucumbers in one sitting. Cooked 100% of our food on the campfire. Saw four people wearing tie-dyed shirts. Stole a shower. Never slept better.

See…

{All photos/fun were taken/had in and around Mt. Hood and Hood River (one of our favorite Oregon spots).  Let me know if you'd like more info on any of our stops...}

Our Meal in Photos

Given our recent bounty of fresh basil we've been making pesto more often.  I was having fun with the camera while cooking and here's how it went:

Big Box Small Brains

The live in and I started our post-college years in retail, and still today find ourselves working in some form of retail. As we see it this gives us full license to be thoroughly unimpressed by today’s customer service standards. This weekend we added another name to our list of companies that we will one day destroy if either of us were to find ourselves sitting in a seat of global power. HOME we might as well be flicking dog poop at our customers DEPOT.

If you find yourself with no choice but to visit this big box small brains retailer here are my tips for survival:

1. It’s important that you understand the rigorous training these employees have been through. Shock collar treatment. If you are in aisle 4 and need help in aisle 5, they physically cannot cross that invisible line. Don’t even ask.

2. Always carry a tape measure on your waist, especially the ladies. Street cred is very important here. If you roll in without a tape measure you will never been taken seriously, thus you will never be helped.

3. If you need an item, but don’t see the quantity you need on the shelves never ask if there is any more in the back. Sure their computer system says they have 16 on hand and there are only 2 on the shelves, but since there is absolutely no chance they’d have them in back stock - don’t even ask this very stupid question. It will only produce a lecture on how sometimes the computer system can inaccurately reflect their inventory. And if you do get this lecture be grateful for the education, because retail is such an obscure and hard to get profession there are few people in America who actually understand the basic principal of on-hand inventory.

4. Never, and this is the most important tip, ever go to the HOME it’s 2010 and we’re still sexist DEPOT for an item that will eventually be used for a purpose in which it wasn’t originally intended for. In addition to the training I mentioned in tip #1, their associates also go through extensive anti-MacGyver training. He’s their anti-Christ. Their Sadam. Their Jacob (go Team Edward). If you find yourself with no alternative but to go, at the very least refrain from sharing your true intended purpose for the supply. This share will only generate a “we have nothing like that here” reply. Doesn’t matter how many associated you may ask, their anti-MacGyver training will always kick in.

5. When exiting the HOME mother loving DEPOT and the manager asks if you found everything you needed, simply lie and give a ‘yes’ answer. Answering ‘no’ will only produce another lecture on point #3*. This lecture, however, will be much shorter as their managers don’t receive shock collar training. They will run like the wind to the point furthest from yours.

Conversely, we are adding Ace Hardware to our list of companies that we will one day acquire and then give major raises and Mini Coopers to all of their employees. They truly are the helpful place...

*To my credit, I did refrain from accusing Bob The Builder of internal theft. A variance of 14 pieces might throw up a red flag to me, but apparently this $2.7 billion dollar company just has a really crappy computer system.

Corn Watch: 2010

During the work week I normally do the watering of the garden. It’s a five minute walk from my office (where I either pass the smokers or the runners on my way – neither group makes me feel good). On the weekends, the live in joins.

This should fall under ‘quality time together’, but today’s garden visit falls under straight up babysitting.

Since the live in was the one who physically planted the corn, he has labeled it as “his”. Never mind that in the time it took him to plant the corn, I planted every single other vegetable we’re growing and haven’t once called it “mine”. Regardless, he’s adopted the corn as his own and is extremely proud of how well it’s doing.

He’s also extremely proud of how well his corn is doing versus other gardeners’. A good portion of today’s visit was spent perusing other plots, trash talking their corn, and comparing size.  Boys.

When not judging other gardener’s vegetables he’s attempting to steal them. Squash was today’s target. We didn’t plant any squash. But the plot next to ours did. Big mistake on their part.

I held him off for today, as there were several other people visiting their gardens (aka witnesses to his crime), and it didn’t appear that the squash owners had even had a chance to pick any yet.  I'm pretty sure they'd notice if their first pick all of a sudden went missing.  However, my babysitting like skills will only last for so long, and I guarantee he’ll snag one eventually.

Apparently community garden and communal garden are interchangeable for him.

The Garden

Here are a few pictures from our garden. We’re currently enjoying sugar snap peas, cucumbers, and fresh herbs. (Although we’re both anxiously awaiting the corn’s big reveal the most.)

Pasta

Although I am currently livid with the live in, I will put that aside and give him due props for the recent string of dates he’s organized.

This week we took a cooking class – pasta was the subject. And it was divine. Seriously, so much fun.

This was our first cooking class, however, and prepared we were not. Or…I was not. We arrived at 6:30pm, which is my feeding time, to an empty kitchen. Major red flag. I immediately turned to the live in and said (in a voice that was apparently loud enough for everyone to hear) “well, I certainly don’t see anything to eat!” To which captain obvious replied, “That’s because you have to make it.” And I get that, I really do, but come on how about a few appetizers to start?!

And… maybe they were, maybe they weren’t - but I got the strong impression that everyone else in the class was eyeing my hair. And not in a ‘oh how fabulous and luscious (thanks to the deep conditioner my stylist comped me!) it is’ way but in a ‘oh how out of control and so not tied back it is’ way. I didn’t have a hair tie with me either. Sorry. But it’s not like they had hair nets on either.

All of that aside, it took my fellow classmates about 3 minutes to see past my mangy hair and onto the finer qualities I brought to the table. Like my live in. And my first class ability to dump three ingredients into a food processor and press, “on”.

The group was actually a ton of fun. It was four other couples, and one single dude. I’m sure he read in some Portland Singles magazine that cooking classes would be an excellent place to meet the ladies. That’s too bad for him.

I wish I had pictures for you but I pulled out my camera only to realize the battery was 100% dead. The head instructor did look just like the boy from Ratatouille. And so naturally I told him this…in the middle of him explaining a recipe. Couldn’t tell if he was amused or insulted. But given the spectacle I created once several of the other girls saw the resemblance and immediately started agreeing and pointing and nodding their heads…I would guess insulted. But he did look just like him.

By the end of the evening we had learned to make 4 new pasta dishes, plus pasta from scratch. We are totally in love with fresh pasta now. On the verge of becoming pasta snobs, actually. So obviously we bought a pasta press or cutter, or whatever you call it. Probably just another kitchen gadget that will eventually find a home in our storage unit, but for now we’re looking forward to razzle dazzling our friends with a pasta dinner party or two…

My DVR

Tonight’s The Bachelorette…well, it is for me anyways. I have my own special version of DVR right now…it’s called the internet. The live in and I are currently on summer break from cable, which means I have to wait until the next day to watch most TV shows, as that’s when they are available online. And this summer just happens to be when the two best TV shows on earth are airing. Fancy timing for a TV hiatus.

Obviously, we’re talking about "The Bachelorette" and "Chad Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch". All other shows are pretty lame during the summer and skipping them has definitely been worth the dough we’re saving on cable. Luckily, the live in was able to “barrow” a cord from work so that we can hook the computer up to the TV. Nothing better than 42 inches of Chad. And, God bless VH1 (and VH1.com of course). Am I right? Genius. Genius. Genius.