other fun happenings in portland, the land of trees

Here's my sis Steph. We were so glad we got to come up from Pasadena to see her get married! How special. This is us at Noah's Bagel getting ready for her big day and starting it off in proper fashion, by eating! We got our nails done at Dosha nearby the day before and then went to the rehersal. And the rehersal dinner was an amazing Japanese place, I loved it! Japanese + northwest seafood = a really happy Emily. The next day we got our hair done at Dosha before the wedding. The ladies at Dosha are real classy, I like!

This is of my new brother in law Scotty and Steph just before they cut the cake. My favorite new friend is Jordane, what a funny speech, what a good friend to Scotty, and what a strange and entertaining dancer! I told Jordane that he should be paid to be an entertainer at weddings. The wedding was on a farm on Sauvie's Island, which is sandwiched between two major bodies of land with Portland to its south. It was breathtaking. I cried when Scotty repeated the vows to Steph, it was so beautiful!
So, of course when I was in Portland for a short visit I happened to be at a local fire and was interviewed by the news station and featured responding to what I expereinced on site. Those newscasters are just as silly in person as they are on tv. I obviously said something dumb and they showed the tape of me being interviewed. Phissssh.
When Donovan and I were scouting out some possible future apartments we stumbled upon Marakesh and this spot, which is where we went right after we got engaged and star gazed for a while. We were so in awe of what had just happened and we chatted for a while here.
On our visit we saw the beginning of a complete transformation of the WPC campus. The new building is incredible, too much for words, you just have to see it. This is so special because it has been a long time dream of those involved with the campus and it is really coming to life. This is a picture of one of the new classrooms. The new building has new practice rooms, a coffee shop, bookstore, cafeteria, etc, etc. I'm a proud alumna.
Here is a picture of Donovan and I after viewing one of several living spaces in the area. Belmont is pretty darn cool. I think we both underestimated it. But this cafe in Belmont sucks. So never go there.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.... well, I don't think you will EVER see me riding down the street on a unicycle playing the bagpipes, even though I do want to move to southeast. That is, unless I'm having problems with my lungs and need to get them back into shape real fast, because this guy was really breathing hard.
This is my dad's pumpkin in the front yard. I love it. Signs of fall are everywhere in Portland. It's still trying to decide if it's really done with summer, as some afternoons were still hot when we were there. The first few leaves are turning yellow right now on some of the green trees. We will likely miss the full burst of autumn over the next four weeks while we're in Pasadena. But that's okay, we have 80 degrees and sunshine :)
We visited two sites that WPC students were at for the Common Day of Service while we were in town. I was interviewed (again) by a WPC media guy regarding my involvement in the first annual CDS, which was fun. I'm really camera shy. Really. This whole interviewing thing is just strange that it happened twice (three times really, but I will not share that whole story) while I was in Portland.
Donovan fell in love with Jan's cat while we were in Seaside, and I fell in love with the cottage. We had a grand time talking with Jay, working on his computer, and eating some FABULOUS food. I think I'm glad that Jay can't cook, because we really liked the restaurant he took us to.

We flew into LAX today and realized quickly that life is faster paced, the land is far less green, and there are LOTS of people. It's funny how quickly I acclimated to seeing a city almost in a forest, rather than a huge developed city with very few trees.

Oh, our time in Portland was very fun and busy. Now we are sleepy!