...

have you ever waited a realllllly long time,

 for a bridge to open and close? 

...

...

for a little itty bitty speed boat?

...

we did.  

and for my memories' pleasure,

other randomness from yet another "shoot as we drive",

last weekend, downtown Portland.

-m-

oooh nooo he didn't!

oooh, yessss he did!!  Rhett.  That man of mine gets an idea in his head, and four days later that idea is manifested, live and in color.  The furniture store we visited last week had a portrait studio set up for taking photos of their pieces and Rhett decided we needed one too.  30 minutes later + Ebay = yesterday's delivery of our very own photo studio.  It includes a 15x20 muslin backdrop and 3 big ol lights.  Last night we got it set up and laughed our way through testing it out.  We'll steam the muslin this weekend to get rid of the fold lines and will figure out the perfect positioning of the lights to get rid of those darn shadows..  It's gonna be fun.  :)

Laters peeps,
have yourself a FAB Friday!
-m-

Foster the People ~ McMenamins Edgefield

I had nooo idea what I was about to be treated too.  I mean, I like Foster the Pepper People and all, especially ~ of course ~ the song Pumped Up Kicks {I'm never gna live down saying "let's stay for Pumpkin Sticks". hey! couldn't you too have mistaken "pumped up kicks" for "pumpkin sticks"?  say them both twice, out loud.  see!?} that blew up recently .. you know the one that goes "run run run as fast as you can from my bullet", or something like that.  I'm so awful with song words.  Eek.   Let's just suffice it to say that I knew I would like the music...  But I was unprepared for the extreme AWESOMENESS of BOTH openers, the beautiful weather, remembering what it's like to be one in a mass of happy people having an amazing time, how fun it is to giggle with girlfriends, and how INCREDIBLE Mark Foster and his band are.    

and without further ado,

let's get onto the show! 

Kimbra Vows
and she Wows.
totally dug her.. got her debut album.
Mark  Foster called her the "chick Prince"..
she and Foster sang a song together during Foster's set
and OMGAD, loooved it, loved it.

ohmygosh you guys,
have you heard of Mayer Hawthorne?
"retro soul" is what they're calling his sound.
am I the only one that was stuck in a world that didn't include MH?
well, he's in my world now.
his tunes are flowing into my ears right this very minute.
if you love soft sexy, takn' you back to the '40's,
big band sound without the big band..
GET THIS ALBUM.

LOOK 'EM UP.
promise me you will.

it deserves a mention..

Foster and his band spent a couple hours at a food bank in Portland yesterday.
they have this thing they call:  Foster the Future.
they try to give back to every community they go to.
that is pretty damn cool, if you ask me.

now I want to put another summer concert on the calendar!

love love love 'em.

-m-

my first hi low

pearls: Banana {old}
Dress: Annabelle {off brand from mall store}
shoes: knock offs

I finally took the plunge.  This is my very first hi low hem dress- or skirt for that matter.  I loved it so much, I bought two!  I just adore the way the low hem flows.  It feels so pretty! I was absolutely convinced that I preferred the coral color, but after seeing these photos I'm swooning over that turquoise green..

Tonight I'll take off the pearls, swap the wedges with some flip flops, and go hit the lawn with two dear girlfriends for our annual summer outdoor amphitheater concert.  We're seeing Foster the People this year!  I'm so excited!  

Hope you have a fantastic Wednesday!

Xo,

-m-

what success REALLY looks like

via

isn't this just the truth.  the road to Success is not a straight smooth little path that you diligently, calmly follow, straight to the top.  it is more accurately a scribbly mess of ups and downs and curly cues, where at times you feel as if you're a dog, chasing your tail around and around in circles; it's full of detours and requires realignments of the compass.

i currently have a few different paths i am on, seeking success.  the success wanted in hitting that magical number on the scale, our dreams of finding the perfect space to build Rhett's business successfully, the path to refurbishing furniture and selling it successfully.. just to name a few.

it's a long scribbly road to that arrow at the top.  sitting back, staring, and following that scribbly mess above on that arrow to success actually leaves me hopeful and full of determination.  the obstacles i'm feeling are Normal.  they are part of the path.  the circles looping around in my mind are par for the course.  it's really just about staying ON the course.  the course to that arrow at the top.  that's where i'm heading.

are you in the middle of one of those curly cues on your path?
how do you keep focused on arriving at that arrow at the top?

-m- 

just call us MacGyver

it was our first weekend home since Tristen left.  he is in Bend, spending the summer with his dad and i'm still missing him, but i'm making myself, for the first summer ever, force down the feeling of feeling lost without my kiddo, and jump starting the embrace of time that i now have to be irresponsible, and by irresponsible i mean  we woke up saturday morning and went to starbucks. grabbed the early sunday paper, snagged the two comfy sofa chairs, curled up and had our coffee and read the paper. NOT something an eleven year old boy would be down for.  

the business section highlighted a crazy cool old school furniture shop, The Good Mod, that we've been wanting to check out so we decided what the heck, we had no responsibilities, and so we went.. 

we spent 10 minutes caged from the other side of the river.
the bridge in the left of the photo opened up and traffic was bbbbbaaacked up for miles.

it was a seemingly gorgeous bright sunshiny day downtown

here's an example of the furniture found in The Good Mod.
straight from your great grandmother's house.

eeeeeek!
this is the elevator up and down to the 4th floor of the industrial building Good Mod is in.
Kylie commented on the pic on my instagram and said "Titantic Elevator!"
and seriously. picture the elevator from the Titantic,
and know exactly what we were in.
it was Freaky.

we got out of the elevator and were straight Lost.
we wandered hall after hall of white corridors with nothing but locked doors
until we found this one..

this was the only door that was gonna open.
no sirens and alarms screamed when we opened the door,
thank god.

but what WAS screaming when we opened the door...

was the rain and wind!!!!  Holy.Mother!
it was INSANE.
the rain was beating, I mean BEATING down on the earth,
and the wind was blowing the beating rain sideways, fiercely.

we ran from door stoop to door stoop,
literally hid out under a tree for a few minutes,
and then made our final dash to the car.

you're lookin' at
Portland Flash Flood Survivors
right here.

we did it.
we ran,
we ducked,
we got soaked.
but we survived.

and rhett just told me we weren't like MacGyver.
i guess MacGuver makes things and is inventive, or something.
i thought MacGyver just survived crazy shiz.
so just call us survivors of crazy shiz.
or MacGyver.
or whatever.
;D

-m-