When locked out of the house...

...would you want to be dressed like this? Yeah, me neither. Thankfully I put on a pair of XXL grey sweats moments after taking this spectacular photo of myself. With sweats on I carried a bundle of laundry in my arms and prepared for a day of chores by locking the door behind me.The instant the door knob mechanism locked into place I realized the error of my ways. No keys, no phone, no wallet, and no goshdarned coat. FML. 

In some stroke of luck mi amiga Sage was on her way to  my place so we could gulp down some caffinated substances together. After about a half hour she arrived, gave me her coat, and proceded to buy me coffee. Her generosity was not without a price though. I already felt like a soggy hobo, but she paraded me to wholepaycheck to pick up a few things while i just looked at things I had no money to buy.

It wasn't so bad, I was probably making some sort of cutting edge fashion statement that went somewhere along the lines of an I don't give a shit, just rolled out of bed look. I even got to see Bryce Black from this last season of Project Runway eyeing my ensemble while downing his own caffeinated beverage within the confines of starbucks.

I somehow got downtown(thanks Joel), picked up James' keys, got into our apartment, and peeled off my weathered clothes. I cranked on the heat and then got down to some revitalizing bizniss.

Eat your heart out non-Oregonians, Juanitas chips are the foundation of my happy place and they can only be found here.  Thrown in some MadMen and my lost afternoon took a 180 degree turn in a most excellent direction.

Looking back

One of my least favorite places I visited this past year was Rome. This was partly due to the fact that my travel partner was robbed on our premier voyage on the subway system and that there seemed to be someone peeing around every corner. After having that sour taste put in our mouths(no one peed in our mouths) we had a difficult time tasting the deliciousness that is Rome when there was so much to hate. Now that it has been eight months I can look past the trashy smell and reflect on the beauty of the city.

It also helps that black and white film makes everything look more glamorous and enchanting. Come and revisit Rome with me, smells not included.

 

   

          

 

     

While Rome may be the toilet of Italy, there are places where Mr Clean's touch must have lingered. This particular place was the hilltop residence of the Medicis. I can only speculate at how lavish and beautiful the interior of the castle like dwelling was, but I can speak some truth about the wonderful surrounding gardens and the cute tiny doggies that were everywhere. On this sunny day Rome was magic, even with the poo colored rivers.

The Real Deal

Now that Winter, the real season not my internal season, has kicked in I feel the pressure to share with you the fleeting perfection of this years Fall/Halloween. Just days ago the temperature dropped to 30 degrees and a thick fog enveloped downtown Portland. But before we plunge head first into chilly oblivion let's reflect in the beauty and energy Portland reserved for Fall.

The decorations people put up range from the traditional

To the bizarre

There are also the multitude of pumpkins, their mangeled corpses littering peoples stairs, and homemade decorations.

 

There were plenty of the puking guts pumpkins this year, but I was really hoping for an ICP themed jackolantern. I guess that's my halloween project for next year!

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of my costume this year, but I still have all the fixins so I'm sure I'll pretend to be Margot again. The night we all went out dressed up was a bust so picture taking wasn't an option. Though I did get a picture of a girl whos shoulder art tops the cake for most ridiculous tattoo I've ever seen.

  On the real Halloween James and I went to the Bodies World exhibit at the OMSI(my first time there), then we saw a planetarium show,  a motion simulator ride, and an IMAX movie. After we went home I made pumpkin pie from scratch! Even though I forgot to add sugar to the filling James and Stina politely ate their servings and after we played a spooky game.

Bones Jenga!

Look at James's new tattoo! He's the most badass Gnome I've ever seen. Also, stina got cute new glasses and dressed up like Simone De Bouvoir. Hopefully November will bring a bookclub meeting, a better raise, and more pretty colors like this: