Ice Ice Baby

The past work-week* was long and draining and I knew at the start of it that the weekend had to be relaxing and friend-filled. But, of course, with plenty of much needed personal time. Unfortunately, I only have photos from Friday. I forgot to bring my camera with me on Saturday (though there wasn’t much to photograph–I just watched movies, ate pizza, and drank wine with friends) and I stayed home yesterday for my personal time.

The view from my office window.

Lots of buildings and I get to see the trees change color. The streets are small enough/The buildings are close enough that I can see people working in the building across from my window. I’m a huge fan of people-watching (does that sound stalker-ish?) so it’s interesting peeking over once in a while to get a glimpse of some of the changes and of what they do.

Relaxation: iced coffee (it’s not that cold yet) and reading materials.

After I got off work on Friday, I headed over to Powell’s to pick up another copy of Barack Obama’s ‘Dreams from My Father.’ I decided to give my copy to someone as a peace offering of sorts and it seems rather fitting in hindsight since Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I then walked over to Peet’s to write a short letter explaining the present, and to start of my Maddy-time, before mailing it. Hopefully, it’s well-received by the intended recipient since I’ve had mixed thoughts about sending it…

Regardless, the book is definitely worth a read. Obama is a wonderful orator and, of course, it translates beautifully into his writing. If you’ve read ‘The Audacity of Hope,’ you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how young, underdeveloped, call it what you will Obama’s writing sounds in ‘Dreams from My Father.’

First (and last?) hockey game ever.

Later that evening, a couple friends and I went to an ice skating rink. (This was only after I gave up the fight for bowling and gave in to the idea of ice skating…) When we got there, however, there was a hockey game. We decided to stick around and I got to watch my very first ice hockey game ever. The game was between Portland State University and Western Washington University, which was interesting to watch but apparently not very exciting. I learned stuff about ice hockey though.

Yes, it’s us again (minus two other friends who were with us that night).

After the game, we took over the rink… and I finally learned the proper techniques of how to ice skate. Last summer (the last time I had gone), I realized I forgot it completely–I spent the whole time on the ice stumbling around while my friends were skating about. Luckily, two friends who grew up with ice (in Virginia and Denmark) offered advice and showed me until I figured it out.

So, that was most of Friday night (save for the part where we all headed over to a 24-hour diner and pie house. Mmm.)

*I started working temporarily at the place where I interned/worked for this summer again after they had heard what happened to me.

Presents

The BF is away on a cross-country road trip so I thought I’d surprise him with two small presents for when he returns.

 

Here’s the first one. It’s is a small notepad with his company logo and (blurred out) name.  I designed the logo since he doesn’t have an official one yet so I hope he likes it regardless of whether or not he uses it in the future.

The BF is creating his own marketing business and I wanted to show him that I’m really proud of what he’s doing. It’s nothing fancy, just real and thoughtful.

I’ll talk about the second present next time.