Spring is in the air!

It's that time of the year again when people start re-newing their gym memberships and shopping for tanning packages to prep their bods for summer...

SPRING TIME!

I've found some super adorable suits and accessories to get you pumped for summer 2011.

www.maajiswimwear.com

www.maajiswimwear.com

www.maajiswimwear.com

www.maajiswimwear.com

www.maajiswimwear.com

Maaji swimwear online offers these suits and more for a pretty reasonable price (about $100 a suit). I figure spending a good amount of money on a suit is important because in the summer...it's all you wear!

To be totally fashion forward on the beach pair your suit with a bag, necklace or pair of sandals.

                        


Another designer totally making me yearn for summer sun is Betsey Johnson. Her collection is very 1950's pin-up. This was just my absolute fav...

      

Pair it with a ring and headband from her accessory line and you are good to go! Well, maybe not in the ocean...maybe just on a really soft towel on the sand, with a drink in hand. 

$50 at betseyjohnson.com

This suit can be found at orchidstyle.com-->

<--I'm a sucker for skirt bottoms!

Let's all keep our lil fingers crossed that summer is just around the corner! (In Oregon it's always hard to tell) I can't wait to see all the suits on the river this year!

xox

Blonde Joke of the Day

A blonde, a brunette and a redhead are running from the cops. So they decide to hide on a potato farm. They crawl into some old potato bags.

The first cop pokes the bag with the brunette in it. She says quietly, "Meow." The cop confirms that it is just a cat.

The second cop pokes the bag with the redhead in it. She says in a deep voice, "Woof." The cop says that it is just a dog.

The third cop pokes the bag with the blonde in it. She says in her sweetest voice, "Potato."

Fab food 'N Awesome Atmospheres

Portland, Oregon may be known for it's many microbreweries...

It's ridiculous amount of strip clubs...

Being one of the most 'environmentally friendly' cities in the WORLD...

And located just hours away from the mountain...

Shreadows at Meadows

the beach...

Pacific City

and the desert...       

Brasada Ranch

But if there's one thing that stands out the most (especially to this hoover)


it's...

if that doesn't cure a hangover...not sure what will.

THE FOOD!

I'll be giving you a list of my favorite restaurants located here and ONLY here in Orygun!


Drum roll please........

snail? tulip? penis??

My first restaurant pick is the one and only Montage located across the Willamette, under the Morrison bridge in downtown Portland. In the mix of great art, fine craft cocktails, boldly flavored food and a lively atmosphere, Montage provides an unforgettable experience. A must see for travelers and a comforting reminder of youthful indiscretion for locals. You can enjoy a wide variety of meals, from rock shrimp pesto linguini to alligator jambalaya! (they even wrap your food to go in tin foil shapes)

Holy mole! These balls are on fire

Next on my list is Salvador Molly's. The Bold Vibrant Flavors don’t get lost in translation. Salvador Molly's staff, friends and customers travel the globe, then come home hungry for more of the exciting variety of flavors this fascinating world we live in has to offer. So, although the adventure may end, they continue serving up the dishes they’ve discovered. From their world famous 'Great balls of fire' to their 'Molly's Hot Tamales' there is nothing on this menu that won't satisfy your appetite beyond belief. 

Porker-town's own, Fat City

Voted "Best place for a hangover brunch" in Portland, OR, Fat City Cafe tops the charts for home cookin'. Breakfast is served all day...so for those of you late starters ( such as myself ) you can roll out of bed at 3pm, mosey on down to this joint and fill up on hashbrowns, freshly cooked eggs and the most magnificent cinnamon rolls you have EVER had. Located in the heart of Multnomah Village, the café is where roadside diner meets greasy spoon.... meets soda fountain. It's super cute with it's walls of license plates and old town memorabilia. 

wingies+bleu cheese=my heaven.

I pretty much would do bad things for good wings. And this place tops the charts. Nepo42's is located on 42nd and Killingsworth in North East Portland. They have an amaz-o southern menu consisting of Chicken and Waffles, catfish and mac 'n cheese. But the WINGS are to die for. Smoked outside and deep fried to perfection I could easily throw back 15-25 in one sitting. They make their own chunkaliscious bleu cheese that ends up turning into a cocktail when I'm done because I just can't get enough. During Blazer games they serve 'em up .50 cents a wing along with $2 tall boy Old German's beer, Cheap. Fabulous. And unforgettable. Not to mention they have like 25 beers on tap. 

I could probably keep going on my fav places to eat, but check these ones out and let me know. Good places to chow down are hard to find. Lucky for me I live in a city where they are so plentiful. Not so lucky for my love handles, but hey, you only live once. Nom nom nom nom nom.

Dig in kids!

xox

Holly Stalder; Local Portland designer

Spotlighting on a local Portland designer, Holly Stalder.

Love her shrugs. This was actually taken at my school, AI.

 

Whether it's a one of a kind or a limited run, Holly produces all of her garments here in Portland, OR. Her style is classic vintage, gorgeous, and extraordinarily feminine. You can find her stuff on Etsy.com or at her new boutique Haunt located on East Burnside.

adorable.

So go support your local designers, whether you are needing a wedding dress, a summer dress or some gorgeous 1920's inspired garments. Holly is your girl. You can view her bio, collections and more at hollystalder.com and shop her garments at Etsy.com.

xox

Stabbed...over and over...and OVER!

Being that I am such a good friend, when asked to go in public and see the new Scream 4 movie, I replied with a "Sure!"...(not really, I actually begged and pleaded to see something else but my bestie Kim wouldn't budge).

So we went to the matinee showing this afternoon. I was hoping no one would see me, we could get in and get out unseen.

She of course drops me off out front while she parks so I am walking into a movie theater ALONE. I give her shit for going to movies alone all the time so I think she did this on purpose...

Needless to say the second I walk inside an old co-worker of mine is standing right there.

We chat about our our current employment sitch's and she asks me what movie I am going to see. My pride gets the best of me and I make sure she knows my friend is coming, and that I was humoring her by going to see this movie with her. She goes, "Scream 4, huh?"

She caught me. "Yes....."

We ordered some pizza and walked to the theater to find 3 people actually sitting there. One couple sitting a few rows in front of us, and one elderly man sitting a few rows behind us. I get scared easily and was convinced this guy was the killer and was going to stab us any second.

He didn't and we survived Scream 4 both mentally and physically. All in all it was exactly the same as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

I can't really complain considering she bought the tickets on www.livingsocial.com for a combined price of $9 and she even bought me a mini pizza. (She def knows how to butter me up!) So if you are absolutely DYING to see this then hit up livingsocial for some good deals. Salons, vino tours, getaways and cheesey horror flicks all at a discounted rate. Can't complain about saving $.
xox

Drinking is fun...

But hangovers suck. When you wake up that Saturday morning with a killer headache, a pocket full of receipts and a whole lot of un-answered questions....the only thing that makes you feel better is laughing about the dumb sh*t you did... 

These nifty lil toys I found can turn a boring old night into a straight up par-tay.

This cooler made me a little too excited. Being that summer is just around the corner all I am dreaming of is floating the Clackamas River with a cooler full of Bud Light. I can see it now... you're soakin' up some rays, chattin' it up with friends, having a great time when "OH-NO"...All of a sudden your beer is empty and the cooler is 2 rafts back!!! Well never fear the Shoot a Brew Cooler is here. Watch and learn folks.

Bott-leggin'

http://www.drinkingstuff.com

Being a bartender myself, I do not condone bringing your own alcohol into a bar. However-It's a recession. And sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. (Well obviously make the boys where it as it won't go very good with a pair of stilettos.) Times are tough and BYOB'in it to your favorite spot sometimes has to happen. So be discreet about it with this alcohol ankle bracelet. 

Never lose your drink again! Also found at

http://www.drinkingstuff.com 

Do you ever get so schwasted that you forget where your put your beverage? Guilty. This beeper for you beer device is completely genius. In fact, I'm not sure why I didn't think of it myself.

Boys...Brace yourselves.This next beautiful piece of icey-booze filled wonder is a perfect addition to   your man cave, garage, basement...well you get the idea. Just make sure to put it away when your mom drops off groceries. Brrr-illiant!

 Iced Boob "Lick-her" Luge 

ALSO found at http://www.drinkingstuff.com  so you should probably 

just go check it out...after you finish reading, duh.

After you've sucked down a few cocktails...you might be hearing last call and need to start wrapping this show up. These handy dancy 'lil napkins can help even the sloppiest of slops. I wish we had these at the Gemini to hand out as people closed their tabs...

Couldn't be a better name: http://www.incrediblethings.com/

Drink responsibly, muah!

xox

Beer Bottle Caps; Things you never thought they'd do

I live with 3 guys, and if your house is anything like mine, you wake up with beer bottles and pizza boxes covering the counters. I spend most of my days cleaning...throwing out Budlight, Heinekin, and Corona caps off the sticky counter tops. After doing a little Spring cleaning this past weekend I found myself sweeping up an abundance of bottle caps up from under our furniture...

Not even joking.

Naturally, I thought to myself, "What could I use these memories of sleepless nights and awful hangovers for?" My friend, Ryan Nicholas, had accumulated many Bud Light bottle caps (shocking!) and decided to glue them to the top of a plastic crate for his "man cave". He used the crate as a stand for a lamp, and the pattern was actually quite amazing. He even made me a Portland Trail Blazer colored crate for our house topped with roughly 50 BL bottle caps. I thought this was a great idea and wondered what else could you use these metal circles for besides collecting dust under your couches???

I did a little research and found there was MANY uses for them! My other friend, Tracie Benjamin, takes beer bottle caps and turns them into earrings. She sells them for $6 a pair and they are super cute for everything from a day on the river, to a night out on the town. 

Beer-rings: $6/Pair contact Tracie @:elitepromodels@gmail.com or find her stuff on Etsy

Another adorable idea I found was taking your collection of bottle caps and turning them into bracelets. Anything from Old-School Coca-Cola caps to Heinekin bottles. Figuring out which drinks have the best caps....could lead to a very fun Friday night. Research, of course.

Bottle cap jewelry

From PBR flowered hair accessories.....

To bottle cap necklaces.... 

                                                                                

and beer pong tables (Genius!) 

Beer bottle caps can be reduced, re-used and recycled into modern pieces of jewelry and art.

So think twice before you sweep up those circular dust traps and try investing in one of these:

Buy here

Cheers beer drinkers !

                xox

Pencil Art...

Most of us will agree with the age-old saying that “patience is a virtue.”

 However, how many people do you know that would actually wait two and a half years to bring a piece of art into existence? 

Dalton Ghetti, 49, has spent almost half his life working with a razor blade, a sewing needle and a sculpting knife for carving his unique and intricate artwork on the graphite of pencil. No, I did not mention a magnifying glass because he refuses to use one.

 Dalton says "I don't make money from it, but would love a gallery owner in England to fly me over." Excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor but did he just say he spends 2 and a half years carving pencil lead into tiny pieces of artwork for...no profit?! This guy is so talented, can someone get midgets and sextuplet parents OFF daytime television and get this guy a SHOW?!

Hanging Heart

Elvis

Saw

Lovin' Love

I don't know about you guys, but this is a rare trait that Dalton has and he needs to be spotlighted. Spread the love and the word.

xox

To view more from Dalton check him out at: 
http://www.bestdesigntuts.com/pencil-sculpture-by-dalton-ghetti/

Let go my LEGO...

I'm sure if you had any sort of childhood, or a brother, you played with LEGO's. My older (and favorite) brother had---oh, excuse me -->HAS boxes of them because our father is a pack rat- I mean, he uh- really enjoys reminiscing about our childhood? 

Well if your father is anything like mine, secretly walk up to your attic, dust off a box or two and get to work. Those rainbow colored pieces of plastic can be easily turned into functional artwork.

Christian LEGO-Vuittons

You will need: One solid color pair of heels

                        Hot Glue Gun

                        Newspaper

                        LEGOS!

Perfect for little kids! (and adults)

You will need: Rectangular Box

                        Styrofoam

                        Spray Paint

                        Hot Glue Gun

                       

Lego-liscious

 I am not a fan of Fergie, in fact I think she is total trash, however, you are NOT. You can make LEGO clothing and look grand. I think a fun idea would be to cover old, chunky jewelry with LEGO's and especially because you could swap them out and change the colors for every outfit!

Or...if your wallet is empty, but full of ideas...the LEGO purse!

Enjoy LEGO lovers!

xox

 For more infor on the creator of the Lego High Heels check out:

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/08/high-heeled-legos-the-snappiest-snap-together-shoes-youll-ever/