This is for real

O and I will be supporting the arts ce soir...

We have the hottest tickets in town and I am pretty excited about it. Check this out. How awesome and bizarre?! Initial reviews of the show so far are great...Tonya, Portland's favorite bad girl and local celeb, was even at the show opening night! They say that music is good for baby in the womb, boy does he have a treat coming up tonight...what to wear?

More butt talk

Sorry to keep on the butt topic, butt (haha) it was brought to my attention that my butt link didn't work, and it is very important to me that you all check out the butt site. So...please click for your daily dose of butt talk. And please spread the word, join the movement, stop the butts.

PS - Thank you to the Mayor for catching this error. Yes, the Mayor reads my blog daily. Don't worry about which Mayor I am talking about, just know that there is a Mayor reading along with you.

Yo Cats

I am hosting the annual UVM Hockey National telecast this Saturday at 4pm in Portland at "On Deck" in the Pearl. UVM vs. Maine (ew). Spread the word. All alumni in the area should have received an invite. The more the merrier, just show up in your green and gold.

If you are not in Portland, click here to find a location near you to catch the game.

Go Cats Go.

More thoughts on butts...

I was just thinking...if America can be trained to pick up dog poo with their own hands, they can certainly be trained to dispose of cig butts appropriately...

Butts are Ugly - spread the word

Butts are ugly, am I right?

Why is it that cigarette butts are an acceptable form of litter (even in uber green Portland!)?? Doesn't that bug you? It bugs me so much. If I were standing at a bus stop or browsing at the farmer's market finishing my tall-nonfat-no-water-chai-latte and then as I finished I tossed the empty cup onto the street and stepped on it, I think anyone and everyone that saw me do that would call me out on it and make me pick it up. In this community it is 100% unacceptable to litter like that. And yet, if it was a cigarette (as if!) instead of a chai latte that I finished and then tossed, nobody would comment - because it is totally normal behavior.

Well, let me also educate you a bit about this situation. Not only are they ugly, they are toxic, they are not biodegradable, they are extremely harmful to our world, and they are the most commonly littered item in the world (2 billion butts per day - eww).

Don't worry, there is good news, there is a new movement in Portland to educate ourselves and our city about this issue. Hopefully with education we will see some behaviour changes. Porltand is such a respected leader in all things green, I really believe we can make an impact far beyond Portland if we are succesful with the movement here in town.

Stay tuned for more on this, I intend to follow it closely. Here is a link to some Portland-specific info - including info about how bad the butts are, and how you can help. Be sure to check it out.

PS - Don't hate the smokers, just hate their litter. We can't make a change unless we get the smokers on board with the movement....spread the word, butts are ugly.

Portland, je t'aime!

It is so great to be HOME. Portland is sunny and warm today - bluebird sky, spring is filling the air. Oli is up shredding at Timeberline and I am off to a lunchdate with girlfriends, outside!

Is there anything about this city that I don't love love love?

Dishes

This photo proves 2 things:

1. Men in the F family can do dishes, I hope babyF takes after his uncle S

2. O's baby bro, S, is adorable

Finnish-ed

It is kind of late in Helsinki, but my flight is super early...so I figure if I pull an all nighter then sleep on the plane, I'll be ready to enjoy the weekend without jetlag. I have a cab coming at 4:30 am. So excited to come home!

I really enjoyed Helsinki on this visit. The city is pretty cool, and I feel fortunate to have been here a few times for work as it is not a city I probably would have planned a vacation to.

Here are a few observations about Finland...things you may not know:

• Fish are a big deal, canned fish, fresh fish, raw fish, fish with heads and tails and eyeballs, fish in a tube, fish filet.....
• Liver is also a big deal, it was the only option in the cafeteria at work yesterday, awesome
• EVERY BATHROOM has a "personal bidet" - hotel bathrooms, airport bathrooms, work bathrooms, restaurant bathrooms....see picture below...it is like one of the things you have on your sink to rinse dishes

• Modern design and architecture; below is the Kiasma Museum, which is one of many museums that I did not visit while I was here, but I admired the structure...
  
  
  
• Licorice (this is a big deal over here - all colors, shapes, sizes, flavors...)
• Saunas! Everyone has one at home, every hotel has one, there is even one in the office and it is not uncommon to use it with colleagues
• Vodka - big deal
• Bikes, everywhere...not like amsterdam, but lots of bikes
• Parks in the city - plenty of green space, very clean city - although I did see lots of cigarette butts (don't get me started on that topic)
• Wood products...all different types of things, kitchen gadgets, toys, sculptures
• Reindeer (people eat it and also decorate with the antlers)
• Glasses - everyone wears glasses! I am thinking they are more fashion than function...men and women all wear the same kind of glasses....they have really wide side things that go over your ears....I would estimate that 6 out of every 10 people wear them, interesting...

My work here is Finnish-ed, can't wait to land at PDX tomorrow. Last biz trip for a long time...feels good....and weird. Ready for the next phase, bring on BabyF!

Getting Hitched

A couple of regular blog readers just got engaged. You know who you are. YEEEHAW! We are so excited for you! We have a wedding to plan! So fun! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can't wait to celebrate with you guys.

Finlanded

I made it to Helsinki. It is a long trip from PDX, about 22 hours door to door. Its warmer here than usual for this time of the year, which is good. Baby F did well on the planes, what a good boy. Time for bed, it's late over here.

Curbside Compost

I spent all day Thursday learning about sustainability here in Portland. There were so many interesting things (tour of the airport, a panel of experts including the owners of HotLips and the Rebuilding Center, local government people); great topics for future posts.

One of the most interesting things I learned was that very soon the curbside recycling program in Portland is going to kick up a notch. This is called the "Portland Recycles! Plan" From my perspective, the recycling options in Portland are already pretty amazing....but they are about to take things to a new level. I think the changes will start this summer, just in time for green BabyF.

The goal is to minimize actual trash by increasing the recycle options for various household things. We already recycle paper, plastic and glass - this will continue (although they are increasing the types of plastic they will take and there will be a few other positive changes). We already dispose of yard debris separate from trash, this will continue but I think it may increase to weekly instead of every other week. And also, they are going to add a service to pick up compost-able waste (food, etc.) every week. With these changes, they will only haul garbage every other week - which should be just fine since none of us should have much actual garbage anymore after we recycle and compost everything.

The changes will be rolled out by neighborhood along with education and new bins (no more yellow bins). They expect these changes will increase curbside recycling by 33%!

There are 4 main goals for the changes:

1. Zero growth in the waste stream.

2. Increase recycling rate to 75 percent by 2015.

3. Make the whole system more sustainable: safer for garbage haulers and neighborhoods.

4. Reduce toxics and greenhouse gases.

The office of sustainable development website does a much better (probably more accurate) job articulating all of these coming changes than I am doing so check it out!

What an amazing city. Go Portland. This is why I am here!

Live Wire

We had a pretty fun (double - yeah R&M) date night on Friday. We went to Live Wire , an eclectic variety show that is recorded in front of a live audience and then broadcast on OPB (local NPR). It was our first time to Live Wire and our first time to the Aladdin Theatre. Both were tres cool and tres Portland.

The show was sold out; many people were standing in the aisles.

The next Live Wire show is on March 15, although I keep hearing that the April 12 show is the one to go to. We will definitely be back for more.

If you get Monday off like we do, enjoy this 3-day weekend. Spring is in the air here in Portland (daffodils and tulips are coming up already!).

Roomies

Today is the birthday of one of my college roommates, JS. To celebrate, everyone in Boston should run to her shop on Newbury Street (dress). Tell her I sent you.

While you are there, be sure to check out the "my sun leo" jewelry which is sold at dress and is handmade by our other roommate, JE.

J&J, I am inspired by both of you girls! xoxo

Happy VDay!

It's VDay (almost).

3 VDay thoughts:

1. B&E sent me some super cute pens and each has a different love-related saying on it. This is my favorite, and B told me it was her favorite too. “Love is friendship set on fire”. Amen to that. My friendship has been burning up since '96.

2. On that note…I love that UVM sends special vday cards to all “catamount couples” – couples that met at uvm and then married. Below is ours. Go cats go.

3. Happy VDay to all!

Custom Note Pads

My belly and I love this fun little website…thank you KK for sending me the adorable note pads! I have since ordered up another set of belly notes (shown below). The site is great for any girl, not just those of us with bellies.

On the design her gals site, you can customize everything about the gal on the notepad (hair, body, outfit, eyes, accessories...). Its so fun and a these make a great gift.

We all get 24

Doesn't it seem that everyone you know is "crazy busy" these days? There are 24 hours in everyone's day. I dislike when people say "I don't have time" for this or that. The more honest way to say it would be "I am not choosing to make time" for this or that.

To me it is less about how you say it and more about how you view it for yourself. I try not to get discouraged if I feel like I can't fit something in, I try to evaluate how important it is to me and make changes if I need to, so that I don't have to miss the important things. I also find it feels great to be honest with people by saying, "I can't make time for that this week". Phrasing it that way lets them know that you are not going to do it, and that it was your choice not to do it because you control your schedule.

Now this goes to another level of pet peeve when people comment about others by saying things like "she has a lot of time on her hands"....if for instance they knit a sweater, or make a cake, or handcraft a thoughtful card, or spend many hours volunteering, or skiing all weekend, or training for a marathon.... See above - everyone has the same amount of time each day! Some people are thoughtful and organized enough to choose to spend their time doing kind things for others or pursuing their passions. Good for them - it seems to me those are the people that have things figured out.

I am choosing to spend the next several hours of this day by doing work, so I need to end this posting. I hope that you spend your 24 in a way that you choose today and everyday!

Way to go Z$

My niece got caught shoving hotdogs and magic markers into the vent at daycare today. Good work Z. Your mom got in some big trouble when she was young too; I'll tell you all about it some day. Or you could probably just google her...

sk8r commute

I love love love this. It is from today's WSJ. Totally makes me think of my O.

All through college he commuted by skateboard. This continued into the real world - when we lived in Boston he would ride to work by skateboard the few times he came into the office. (Normally, he had to commute by plane to random locations like Peoria or Boise). Our firm was fairly conservative...he got some pretty funny reactions when he would roll in each morning and "park" the board in his office.

Mini Kitchen

This is probably the smallest kitchen ever. I am thinking (someday) maybe it would be fun over in our guest bedroom (which is separate from the house). It has a fridge, sink, and stove - all in one. This magazine clip made it look adorable.

When I go to the company website, their photo (below) of the same unit is not nearly as well staged.

PS - that tree wallpaper from the cute mag clip is available here. I have seen it in so multiple mags over the last year (domino, sunset...). O is anti wallpaper....but I am still tempted to give this one a try.

I am inspired by her work

I discovered Pam Greene in Oregon Home magazine. I love love love her work! Her studio space is pretty amazing too. I hope to meet her and see her studio & work in October during Portland Open Studios.

In addition to her studio space in Portland (above), she has a sweet space on the Oregon Coast (below).

Doesn't she make you want to paint?!

Petiquette

I recently read an article with this same title (maybe in Portland Monthly?). I loved it.

Did you know that Portland is one of the most "dog-friendly" cities? Isn't that great?

I actually think they should rank cities by how friendly the dogs are. I'd rather live in a "friendly-dog" city then a "dog-friendly" city.

As a runner, I really dislike when dogs are unleashed and they come up to me. How am I supposed to know if the thing is going to bite or not? I do not feel bad giving a mean look to an irresponsible owner who assumes (incorrectly) that I am a dog person like the majority of this city.

Sir Wellington and Mona - if you two are reading this I hope you know you are an exception. I am happy to walk or take care of you two any day. Just remember our deal...I will never pick up your poop.

As for the dogs next door...keep it down, I don't like to hear you bark.

Portland Pillows

I am loving these pillows. If you are not from Portland, one is the St. Johns Bridge, the other is the new PDX tram.

The state-of-the-art tram travels at 22 miles per hour, rising 500 feet for an amazing three-minute trip over sw portland. The top of the tram is about 1 mile from our house.

I saw the pillows in the new magazine "Portland Spaces". You can buy the pillows here. I am not sure they'd work in my house...M&L, I think you guys need these.

Making Tires From Weeds

Natural rubber is a polymer that is produced by over 2000 plants by a process known as biosynthesis. Currently all natural rubber comes from the Brazilian rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis. The United States imports over 2.6 billion pounds annually mainly from Southeast Asia at a cost of over $2.6 billion. Natural rubber is 100% imported and is a strategic raw material with no guarantee against supply interruptions. It is imperative that a domestic source be developed. Developing a domestic source is essential to our national security, domestic economy and will make a significant contribution to the improvement of our rural economies.

BryGuy is the perfect dude to figure this out for us. He is a farmer, a chemical engineer and an ex-executive from the tire industry.

Lucky for us, he is working hard on an effort to make rubber out of weeds.

Keep up the good work Bry. We can't wait to have weed tires!

Slope

We plan to grow old in this little house together and we intend to stay so fit that the stairs up the slope will never be a problem. However, I just saw this in a magazine and now I have a back up plan. Apparently these 'lifts' are very popular in Switzerland.

I also think it looks cool...

Here is a company that makes them.

"This is why I am here"

During his lunch hour, O tries to play soccer as often as he can. Each evening, I can tell right away whether he played or not - because if he did play, he has a glow. He has told me that when he walks onto the field he thinks "this is why I am here". I love that; what a great feeling and sense of awareness. It is extensible well beyond O's soccer lunch. We should all feel that way at various points in our day. If we don't find that feeling daily we should make some changes (in attitude or lifestyle) so that we can find that feeling. As I bite into a fresh orange, my only real craving since being pregnant, I now think, "this is why I am here". As I run in the rain up to the Chart House with the best neighbor ever, I think "this is why I am here". As I see my belly grow bigger each minute I think "this is why I am here". When I have a great phone conversation with my fab grandma, "this is why I am here". Thanks O, you are why I am here!

I think I will add "why I am here" as a label in my blog for postings that give me that feeling.

Pretty Glass Bottles

I saw these pretty glass bottles in a magazine. I thought they were neat; a unique way to serve water at home.

They are available for purchase here.

Let's Blog

First post...keeping it simple, I want to get the first one out of the way.

I am excited to get my ideas and thoughts posted. I plan to post about things, people, and ideas that I love and want to share.

Enjoy the Portland Sunshine.