Portland Shenanigans in January

January already?  Holy shit!

To get into the festive New Year’s spirit, I did some digging around to see what kind of cool things Portland had to offer this time of year.  Oh Portland, you are so full of strange and wonderful shenanigans, even in the darkness of January.

Behold:

January 1^st—Free New Year’s Day Hikes at Oregon State Parks, including the coast, Columbia River Gorge, and the Portland Metro Area.  Nature—the perfect cure for your New Year’s hangover. Let's Hike!

January 3^rd—Shanghaiers, Saloons & Skullduggery: A Walking Tour of Portland’s Sinful Past.  $15, 4 p.m.  Learn about the shady past of Portland from a “kick ass Oregon History Historian”.   The tour ends at a haunted strip club.  Sinful History of PDX

January 11^th—Global No Pants Day in Portland.  Free for all ages, 2:00 p.m.—7:30 p.m.  Board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter.  All winter gear, sans pants.  Be sure to bring pants along with you (in a backpack), in case you want to hop on the max or get a beer!  Global No Pants Day PDX

January 17^th—Friends of Trees Planting Event in SE Portland, Free, 8:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Show your Portland tree-loving pride! Reserve Your Spot to Plant a Tree.

January 23^rd-25^th—ChocolateFest, $15.  Chocolate professionals.  Samples.  Need I say more?  Tickets for Chocolate!

January 31^st—Worst Day of the Year Run.  5K, $35 in advance, free 'beverage' if you show up in a costume.  Let's hope it's hot chocolate (or beer).  Worst Day Run

Info courtesy of PDX Pipeline and Travel Portland.

Not a Portlander?  No worries.  Go nutty on Google—that’s where I found this goldmine.  Dig around and see what your community has to offer.

Happy Exploring!

al

The Beast of Perfectionism

Perfection is just that--a beast.

It can stifle you in your tracks, keep you from taking risks; essentially keep you from progressing forward.  It casts you in the broken-record 'what if'' track.  Sound familiar?

Here are my thoughts on the topic, since this beast is currently slowing down one of my projects.

My desire for perfectionism has been creeping into this blog.  A very wise person once told me the #1 reason that blogs fail is because bloggers stop writing.  I can see why!  Your thoughts, insights, opinions, everything is available for the world to see.  It puts you in quite the vulnerable position.  You want to be perfect!  No mistakes!  You're the best writer ever!

Perfection doesn't exist though.  Any thought that something you create isn't perfect will keep you from publishing, which will stop you from writing altogether, and it compounds on you until you're drowning in doubt.

This can be the same with any goal.  Trying to lose weight, budgeting, keeping the kids from eating boogers, etc., etc.  Your fear of not being perfect or making a mistake can paralyze you.  However, if you find yourself neck-deep in a rut, don't despair.  You're in good company, along with the millions and millions of folks moseying on this Earth.

Ok, so now what?

Well, I encourage you--if you're stuck in a rut, take a baby step.  Then take another one.  You'll fall on your face and/or butt a few times, but you're human.  It's ok!  Dust yourself off, have a smile on your face, then try to get moving again.

Trying to start running?  Start small.  Go outside for a walk.  Then go for another.  Then jog a little.  Not the fastest out there?  That's ok. You're faster than your couch.

Budgeting?  Try to limit the amount of times you splurge for one week.  Do it again.  Did you mess up a little?  That's ok.  Try again!

Habits take a long time to form, therefore they'll take a long time to change.  Keep your chin up and keep trying.  Remember, even one step or two in the right direction is progression.

al

Get Out of Your Head (and Get Into the Woods)

Latourell Falls

Columbia River Gorge

The Wilderness of Oregon

I apologize ahead of time for the delay in posting.  This past week was a catty-wampus one, but I will make it up to you by showing you some lovely hiking pictures.

Deal?  Deal.

First things first—

This may sound weird, but have you ever felt like your world was on fire?  This is what I call it when things in life take a radical change.  Your previous thoughts and perspectives, ideals, beliefs—it all burns.  Without sounding cliché or corny, a new outlook rises from the ashes, but man.  No one tells you just how shitty that transition can be.

Some symptoms of change I notice in myself are anxiety, doubt, fear, and negative thoughts by the boatload.  These are exactly the things that you don’t want to have to fight off, especially when you’re already going through the motions with work, friends, family, and relationships.  All that adult stuff.

You have to find relief—but how do you do that in a healthy way?  I know some folks hit addictions pretty hard, resorting to pills or the bottle to give their brains a break.  I’ve been trying to talk it out, but I feel like a broken record talking with my loved ones.

This time, I decided to try something different—get out of my head and get into nature (or in this case, the woods).

Allow me to introduce you to Latourell Falls, a hidden gem in the Columbia River Gorge, about 29 miles from Portland.

The very act of getting out of my car was such a cool refreshment to a burning mind.  You’re met with the gentle roar of the waterfall, consistent and steady, which calms you from the inside out.  The trail overall is a fair level of difficulty for a novice hiker, but the scenery and atmosphere are worth the spike of your pulse.  Even as your breath cools, you can’t help but feel your jaw drop in admiration of everything around you.

Mind you, I was hiking in late November, so crispness in the air was to be expected.  It wasn’t unwelcome though.  Being surrounded with so much beauty and solitude helped quell the mental fires.  In a flash, those emails, plans, disagreements—they dissipate into the misty, evergreen coolness.  You’re suddenly looking at your life from 3500 feet, watching things move and adjust themselves.  There’s no need for you to be entrenched the whole time.  You are allowed to give your brain a break.

What better break than nature? 

Sure, I have the good fortune of having waterfalls about an hour from my house, but this is something you can experience at a park, a walking trail, etc.  Get outside.  Get some fresh air.  In turn, you’ll get a fresh perspective.

For me, it’s Monday, 24 hours post-hike.  My attitude is refreshed, my train of thought taking a more positive turn, and for lack of a better way of describing it—I feel healthier overall.

Morale of the story—if you feel like you’re beaten eaten alive by the numerous things in your life, give yourself a break.  Get out in nature.  Repeat frequently.  You deserve it.

al

Indoor Recess

Indoor Recess

Wasn’t indoor recess the best when you were in elementary school?  You stayed inside, kept nice and dry while the weather was yucky, and played games with your friends (or in my case, taped Jurassic Park trading cards to my desk).

It's even better when you're an adult.

Background: For those who don’t know, I work in a leadership role at a school.  It’s a solid gig.  I like it.

For those of you not in the Portland Metro area, there were rumors and newsflashes abound about a storm system heading in our direction Wednesday night.  So much snow!  Freezing rain!  Ice!  All of the things!

So yeah—the #1 question of the day for me and the powers that be: “are we going to close the school tomorrow?”.  Well, it all depended on what Mother Nature decided to do.  Alas, all I could do was shrug, say “we’ll see what happens”, and keep my fingers crossed that we would close too.

The news reports were getting worse.  Winter storm warning for your area!  Beware!  Texts were coming in!

We were all pumped.  Come on snow!  Mother Nature, work your magic!

Here’s what we woke up to.

Damn.

However, the reports were still coming in—snow is coming, just later in the day.  Freezing rain was starting to fall already and it could potentially make for icy conditions later in the evening.

My Director was awesome.  I knew he didn’t want to make the drive in the potential mess either, so he totally called a snow day with no snow.  Sweet.

I have a free day.  What to do?  I could have easily gotten some chores done.  I could have packed (I’m moving to a new place 10 minutes away, but that’s another post), cleaned, worked out, meditated, painted; a variety of things that would have helped me feel more accomplished and centered.

Do you think that’s what I did?

Hell no.

I texted my friend Becca:

“Let’s do a Breaking Bad marathon today.”

Spoiler free!  Don't worry!

Becca is the Breaking Bad series #1 fan.  It’s great—she lights up the whole room in adoration whenever she tells me about it sans spoilers.  Me?  I’ve heard about Breaking Bad (it’s the meth show, right?), but haven’t really invested any time into learning more about it.

When Becca found this out a while ago, she made it a goal for us to watch the show together.

Within the last week or so, we started the show from the very beginning.  This is my first time seeing it, Becca’s second.

In one week, we blasted through quite a few episodes.  Thanks to the snow day, we finished the first season of the series.  Yay!

So yeah—it could have been a day of phone calls, emails, meetings, all that grown up stuff.

Instead, all of the following happened:

--I hid my face in a pillow during all the bloody parts of the show.  I kept an eye on Becca so get the telltale “ok, it’s over” look before I could resume watching.

--There was a discussion over the superiority of PlayStation to Xbox.

--So many fur baby cuddles!  Becca has two pups and a kitty.

--We drank fresh coffee spiked with homemade Kahlua and half & half.

--We ate a wide assortment of noms, ranging from cheesy poofs to salad to Trader Joe’s fruit gems.

There’s your scene.  Indoor recess.  Watching an amazing story and vibrant characters (with lots and lots of drugs) on TV with a great friend, so many cuddly animals shifting to get comfortable and warm, a smorgasbord of awesome on the twin coffee tables from IKEA, and the blue light of freezing rain and  sunshine lighting up the room through the windows.

It’s so good to take a hiatus from the responsibilities of being a grown-up every now and then and just completely veg out with friends/cuddly animals/awesome socks.

al

Blogger Talk at Kerns Kitchen

Blogger Talk at Kerns Kitchen

2935 NE Glisan St.

Portland, OR 97232

First adventure—whew!  Here we go.

So, first off, I am a gal that needs structure and support when I try a new project (i.e. the blog).  To me, these can both be met in the form of a mentor.  Someone who has seen the scene, taken his/her lumps, and can offer some good advice to aspiring noobs.

To me, that could be none other than Toku, author and owner of MindFitMove.  I’ve been following his blogging adventures for a couple of years now.  His posts are inspiring, mindful, and real.  I’ve had the good fortune of seeing him speak in Portland and pick up from his wisdom in person. 

On a lark, I reached out to him and told him about this blogging idea of mine.  I asked if I could pick his brain (figuratively, not literally) to see if he could share insights on blogging.  He agreed and we decided to meet at Kerns Kitchen, which I’ve never heard of and never been to.  What a perfect setting for a first documented adventure!

Let me tell you, it’s amazing how impactful one email can be.

Tell me this isn't the epitome of Portland.  Moss, old wood panels, bicycles?  God, I love Portland.

So Kerns Kitchen is a playground of all the things I love about Portland.  The battered wood décor, menus and specials written on chalkboards, locals sitting at the bar, laughing with the staff.  It’s the kind of warm, comfortable place that you walk into and you feel immediate inclusion.

All of this.  Love, love, love.

The food?  To-die-for.  Portland-style home-cookin’ (Southern draw and all).  If you need a place to start, I ordered the Dragonfly Chai Tea Latte with almond milk.  The mix-master extraordinaire even added a cinnamon heart in the middle of my tea.  I will tell you—there’s nothing quite like sipping a warm chai from a ceramic cup and saucer.

Dragonfly Chai Tea Latte with Almond Milk

For noms, I ordered the egg & roasted veggie breakfast sandwich.  The herbed chevre they smeared on a warm, homemade biscuit…Lord.  I had no gumption to take a picture while I was eating it.  It was that good.

Toku and I chatted while we were eating.  I was:

a.)   very thankful that Toku didn’t notice me completely overjoyed with my meal, and…

b.)   thrilled he didn’t say anything, if he did notice.  I’m a lady who likes her food.

Toku was an absolute delight to speak with.  In fact, though we’ve been acquaintances for a few years, this was the first time I had a full-blown conversation with him.  Bless his heart, he was a good sport.  I get nervous meeting new people and unfortunately, you can see it in my face, neck, and chest.  I get all splotchy and red.  I was without my usual method of camouflage (a scarf), so poor guy—he had to see my blotchy, scary-looking nightmare while we chatted.  Did I mention Toku was a good sport?  He didn’t say a word about it.

Though my interview skills are rusty at best, I did make a hodge-podge attempt to write down some semi-intelligent questions, which of course, I didn’t refer to at all.  I did, however, take notes on the insight he had to share:

·         If you’re going to blog, keep going.  Toku shared that a vast majority of blogs fail because writers stop writing.  Keep going, even if you get stuck.  Most readers won’t find your work until you’re well into your project (which could realistically be a few years).

·         Be consistent.  Toku noticed that successful bloggers write anywhere from twice a week to every single day.  The point is to stay consistent so your readers know what to expect from you.  He suggested to start at twice a week and see how it goes.

·         Stockpile posts.  Boy, I thought this was brilliant.  He suggested that while writing a blog, make an extra post or two and keep it in a file off to the side.  That way, if you’re having an insane day and can’t make the time to post, you can pull one that’s written and ready to go.  It goes along with the consistency thing.

·         You’re going to stumble and make mistakes--it’s going to be ok.  We talked quite a bit about this one.  It’s a fear for me and a lot of people out in the big, lovely world.  He was open about his experience with writing a blog and posting it for all the world to see.  He observed that the more he kept writing, his focus improved and his errors subsided.  He encouraged me to keep going—even the best authors wrote ‘eh’ works for their first attempts.  Keep writing and you polish your skillset.

Overall, the conversation was fantastic and insightful, the food was an incredible comfort, and I left feeling empowered and ready to air out my ‘eh’ posts.  Watch.  In a few weeks, months, years, etc., this blog will take life and grow.  Gotta learn to crawl before you walk, right?  Or walk before you run?  Something like that.

A huge thank you to Toku for his leadership and guidance.  You can visit his site at www.mindfitmove.com.

Until next time, consider the power of putting yourself out there and asking for guidance.  You’ll be delighted by what you’re given in return.

al

The Prologue

The Prologue

So here is my starting point.  I’ve already written a short intro to a blog I’ve been wanting to start for years.  I have so many awesome and funny stories to share.  I’m ready to write.  Now how in the hell do I get started?

Crap.

To dive right into the adventures would be a little weird; like getting a driver’s license and you’ve never driven a car.  A marriage proposal with no first date.  You get the idea.

So, after careful deliberations (i.e. binge-watching cooking shows in my pajamas while drinking Kahlua), I thought it might be helpful to write a little prologue to give you, Friends, an idea of who I am and why I’m starting this project, and yeah—we’ll go from there.

So, without further ado…

PROLOGUE:

My name is Aimee and I am a gal in my early 30’s living in the silly city of Portland, Oregon.  I moved here in 2011 from the Midwest, where I was born and raised.

The end.

(just kidding)

After transitioning to being out in the Pacific Northwest, I found myself settling into a life of complacency.  I was satisfied with the little nuggets of delight that life would toss my way.  If I got an invite to a social gathering that sounded interesting, I’d go.  If I wanted to decline and be lazy, I would.  However, that just wasn’t quite enough.  There was something missing.

Inspired by a loved one, I started to take a deep look into how I was living my life.  Sure, I had spurts of effort sprinkled in here and there.  I wanted a couple of degrees; I got them.  I wanted to move to Portland; here I am.  However, life just seemed ‘meh’.  It was an interesting conundrum: you subconsciously know that you have to make a life change, but you have no idea where to start or how to do it.  That’s what this blog is going to do.  I hope it motivates you to do the same.

I’ve already started making a concentrated effort to get out in the community.  I’ve gone to TED talks (don’t know what those are?  Click here: TED Talks), photography receptions, met amazing people who know the history of the Alberta Arts District, and this energy and enthusiasm is swirling and growing.

No longer am I this chick who goes to work and does stuff every now and then.  I am a vibrant, living person who was making solid efforts to create a meaningful life.  I have a project, thus I have a purpose.

Well, thanks for letting me share, Friends.  I look forward to going in-depth on the cool things to come.  Scheduled for this week: a conversation with a mindfulness blogger and a chance to try pre-holiday culinary experiments with a few friends.

Until next time, be well.  And enjoy the beauty of my plastic animal collection.

al

First Entry, Not the Last

Hello and welcome!  My name is Aimee and these are the journals of an optimistic adventurer.

I believe that people are fascinating and have many interesting stories to share, it’s just hard to get the conversation started.  My goal is to get out in the community and explore, as well as gain insight and wisdom from the people I meet along the way.   This will include celebrating art, diverse culture, food, beverages, music—all the things that make this area so rich and interesting.  My hope is that, in sharing my adventures and discoveries with you, you’ll be inspired to walk out your front door, no matter where you live, and start a journey of your own.

There is a brilliant world out there between home and work.  Though it’s easy to get sucked into daily rhythm, I intend to go off the beaten path and see what this big fun world has to offer.  I hope you do too.

Thanks and stay tuned for my first post!

al