Ron Jeremy's new club

Several nights ago, KGW reported on a new club that Ron Jeremy opened in Portland. I figured it was just another normal nightclub, but then the story caught my attention. It's a "swingers sex club" called Club Sesso. The story on KGW.com says the club is "upscale." What?! I'm sorry, but I don't think there's anything upscale about this. I think it's disgusting. I guess I'm a prude---I find it hard to believe people really do this kind of stuff! There are private rooms with beds for people who want to enjoy privacy and "under the the bedspread there's a fully rubberized mattress, so after anybody's done in this room we have housekeeping come in, spray it down with an antibacterial and sanitize everything, remake the bed."

They showed pictures of this place and it was even more disturbing. Huge bottles of hand sanitzer everywhere, rubber matterssess everywhere---sick, sick, SICK! I was literally sick to my stomach after this story was on. Even worse, it was on the 6 o'clock news, when most families are eating dinner and have the news on. How do you explain that to your kids? I almost wrote in to KGW to tell them how crazy it was to even have a story about this super,
ultra-trashy place. They must've really been excited about it though, as it aired again at 11.

Not sure what made me think of this disgusting place this morning but I just thought I'd share. Hopefully it goes out of business soon! You can read more about this place (and watch a video) if you Google, "Ron Jeremy new club Portland." I can't post a link for some reason. See if you're as disgusted as I am!

Happy Thursday!

Margarita Pie

On Sunday we decided to drive up and surprise Joe's dad for Father's Day. We found out they had reservations at Woody's on the Water in Tacoma at 1:30, so we called Joe's uncle and had him add 2 to the reservation. I think he was tickled to see us---and surprised, too! It was fun!

After lunch we went to Joe's grandma and grandpa's house for dessert. Grandma Poppy had a Margarita Pie and it was so delicious! Light and refreshing, perfect for summer. Here's the recipe...

Margarita Pie

Crust

1/2 cup pretzels, crushed

1/2 cup graham crackers, finely crushed

1/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup limeade concentrate, thawed

2 tablespoons Tequila

1 tablespoon orange liqueur

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375. To make the pretzel crust, combine crushed pretzels, graham crackers, sugar and melted butter. Once the mixture is combined, spread mixture evenly into a 9-inch pan. Press the mixture on bottom and sides to form an even crust. Bake for 5 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Let shell cool until needed.

For filling, use a large mixing bowl and combine sweetened condensed milk, limeade, tequila and orange liqueur until all ingredients are well mixed. In a medium bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into lime and tequila mixture. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell, cover and freeze for 4 hours or until firm. Let pie stand for 10 minutes before serving, slice and garnish with lime slices.

Happy Father's Day!

New Year's 2006 in Puerto Vallarta---dancing to YMCA

Happy Father's Day! We celebrated Father's Day last night by having dinner at Screendoor in Portland. It was delicious as usual and I scarfed down my usual, the Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. I've mentioned this restaurant before, but it's a "must try" when you're in Portland. Get there early though, this place has become super popular after being featured in magazines like Portland Monthly, and a line starts forming around 5:15 (they don't open their doors until 5:30).

On this Father's Day I am so thankful for my dad. He is such a wonderful person and he has accomplished so much. I'm so proud to say that he's my dad. From risking everything and leaving his job at Weyerhaeuser to start CAS to being involved in the community, he is passionate about everything he does and always gives everything his all. I'm sure being the only man in the house wasn't always easy, but he was always patient and never seemed to mind it. He spent so many weekends following "his girls" around the mall, patiently waiting us to finish shopping. He never got mad though, just went along with it. I remember one time we wanted to go shopping but it was a big game day. Dad didn't refuse to go with, he just went along with it. I remember he had a little hand-held portable TV that he would take and try to get reception while waiting on a mall bench for us for hours on end. I don't know many guys that would do that!

Joe's dad is a great dad, too. I love seeing Joe and his dad together. His dad can hardly keep his hands off Joe! Joe and his dad talk can talk on the phone for hours on end and you can just see his dad light up whenever he's around Joe. When I see this, it makes me realize what an awesome dad Joe will be!

Cheers to our dads for being such influential people in our lives!

Tricky, tricky....

On Tuesday I got an email from a lady at the Westin in Maui saying she heard through the grapevine that me and my fiance, Joe, will be staying with them on our Honeymoon in September. I couldn't figure out how she knew this, I called Joe immediately to tell him and his first thought was that someone booked our stay for us. I didn't want to mention it to my parents or Joe's parents in case they did in fact book our stay and the lady at the Westin totally ruined their surprise!

I emailed her back and got a response yesterday. She apologized and told me she didn't want me to think she was a stalker, but her Director of Public Relations read that we'll be staying there on my blog! Dang!

I'm so happy it's Friday! A little disappointed to wake up to rain though. Actually, I take that back. I've never minded the rain and after the great weather we've been having, I don't really mind it. I just wish it wasn't going to last all weekend!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We were supposed to have a garage sale at my sisters house tomorrow, but we're definitely fair-weather garage sale people! :)

Happy Friday!

3 months from today.....

I will be a Mrs! I know I sound like a broken record but I really can't believe how fast time has gone! The wedding has seemed so far off for so long and now suddenly it's only three months away. I told Joe last night I feel like my mind is constantly going---so much to do, so many things to figure out between now and then.

We crossed one major item off our list though. We finally decided on Maui for our Honeymoon. Joe's parents donated 100K air miles, so we'll be flying for free and staying at the Westin. We're taking advantage of the awesome Costco deal that we found here. Now is the time to travel! Alaska Airlines is even having a Hawaii sale, $169 one way from Portland to Maui. Crazy! We'll stay 6 nights at the Westin and then move to a different part of Maui for the last 3 nights. We're both so excited for this trip. The last time we were in Maui I was in a wheelchair waiting to find out if I had cancer, a benign tumor or a bone infection. I couldn't walk, couldn't get in the water thanks to my biopsy wounds and was pretty much miserable. After everything we've been through, this will be a well deserved trip.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The planter outside of our kitchen 6 weeks ago.....

The planter outside of our kitchen window this morning.....

They've grown like weeds!

Nothing too exciting going on. We've been prisoners to staying home because Subie has to have his pain medicine every 6-8 hours. Joe even gave up a weekend of mountain biking to stay at home last weekend. Subie hates the medicine and I just can't get it down him. The vet said it's crucial that he gets the entire dose each time so Joe decided he better not go too far. Speaking of Subie, he's doing great! He's currently sprinting laps around the kitchen. I don't think he's supposed to be that rowdy, but we figure if he was in pain he wouldn't be doing this. The only thing we've noticed to be different is that he meows a lot. I mean A LOT. We came to the conclusion last night that he does this because he can't get our attention through scratching. I prefer his meowing to scratching anyday!

The only thing keeping me going right now is thinking about Honeymoon in September. I'm so burnt out on everything. I feel like I live for the weekends but as soon as they get here I'm so busy trying to get everything fit in, they fly by. Then it's back to Monday and living for Friday again. Is this as good as it gets?

Our lucky day...

A few weeks ago I had to call Cuisinart to order a part to my moms food processor that I broke (sorry, mom!). The part that I broke cost $6.10 so I sent them a check and they said we'd get the part in about a week. Joe called me yesterday and asked why I ordered a coffee maker, UPS had just delievered it. I said I didn't, it must have been the one we put on our registry, but he said it was totally different. He said it was with the Cuisinart part I ordered, so I figured they messed up and charged us. NOPE! On the invoice it says, "FREE." We're so confused! We think they messed up and the coffee maker should have gone to someone whose coffee maker broke and is still under warranty, but they messed up and sent it to us. Do we call and tell them or do we just consider ourselves lucky?! It looks like someone has purchased the coffee maker we have on our registry but the coffee maker we're using now is about to die, so I'm thinking it could be a good back-up until September!



P.S. Subie is doing great! We don't feel quite as evil anymore!

Subie cat

Yesterday was probably the worst day of Subie's life---it was he declawing surgery. Joe and I have felt totally sick about it since we made the appointment but even more so the last few days knowing how fast it was approaching. We debated it and debated it and finally decided that it was something we needed to do...hopefully all of us will be happier in the long run.

Last night when Joe picked him up he was in bad shape. He wasn't acting like he was in pain, he was just so drugged out he couldn't do anything. It looked like he was exhausted but he couldn't even close his eyes. He just sat in his crate and stared at us with his mouth open!

Joe said last night he regretted doing it but this morning Subie greeted us as soon as we opened the room he slept in and is walking around like it's no big deal. Thank goodness! Hopefully we breeze through the recovery.

Cross your fingers!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful mom. More like a best friend, she's there for me (and all of us) whenever we need her. She's one of the most caring people I know and when people find out I'm her daughter they often say, "Your mom is such a wonderful lady." I only hope people tell my kids that someday! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!