Jess' B-day Martinis- Sept 17, 2011

Jess is such a fun person and of course, her birthday was a huge day of fun.  Unfortunately, I was on call, so just dropped by for dinner and drinks...just dinner for me.  But it was good times as a ton of people came and by the time I left we had taken over part of the restaurant.

Ndidi and the Hippies- Sept 8-12, 2011

I was so excited when Ndidi said she'd be coming to visit.  Her long foray East from Oregon was all the more fun to watch as she was re-innoculated with the hippies and weird that Portland prides.  We had some really good food, hit up my neighborhood street fair where they planted a central patch of grass in the middle of the street, took some model home visits to some super swanky, Sex in the City-type pads in the Pearl, and watched Oregon demolish Nevada.  Best of all was just spending time with Ndidi.

Crystal Comes Home and Gets Engaged!- Sept 10, 2011

Crystal called last week and said that she made a spontaneous post-call decision to trip back to Portland for the weekend and hit up the Northwest Musicfest.  She'd been homesick for a while and spent an eventful weekend back in town.  We planned on brunch at her favorite spot, Screendoor, and to our surprise she made a huge announcement.  Ben proposed and she said yes that morning before brunch.  It was a beautiful thing to see how happy they both were and get to share in their moment.

Ashland and Oregon's Shakespeare Festival- Sept 4, 2011

So it's been Lisa's big thing for a while that she's wanted to go down to Ashland for their annual Shakespeare Festival, one of the biggest in the nation.  The town was really cute and we enjoyed relaxing in the shade by the creek most of the afternoon.  As for the play, while I couldn't understand most of what was said, nor could I stay awake for most of it, it was a fun experience to watch a live Shakespeare piece in a beautiful outdoor theatre.

Crater Lake: The Deepest Blue Water- Sept 3-5, 2011

There is a narrow window of time to visit the deepest lake in North America and labor day weekend ended up being perfect.  We gals and Ryan headed down for some camping and gorgeous views and it was well worth the drive.  We hiked around the lake, sang by the campfire, hula-hooped, and ate great food thanks to Lorien.

Eugene: On the Way to Crater Lake- Sept 2, 2011

Since we couldn't get out to Crater Lake during daylight hours Friday night after leaving work, 4 of us decided to go halfway and spend the night in Eugene.  We stayed with one of Jessyka's friends and ended up playing random games- quarters and spoons while listening to oldies.