Monthly Archives: May 2012

Karaoke is Good for the Soul

I am convinced that there is nothing quite as good for the soul as gathering a bunch of girlfriends to sing at the top of their lungs, have a few drinks and enjoy a lot of laughs.

I have loved Karaoke since that very first time I went out partying with a group of Japanese Mailmen after my day as the honorary Postmaster General of Sukagawa Japan. (A very long story that I may share on the blog one day). I remember at one point during that evening many (many!) years ago, and likely after more than a few sakes, it suddenly occurred to me that no one cared if I sang out of tune. What they cared about was that we were all having a good time and, for this frustrated High School-musical-star-wanna-be, it was wonderful to feel free enough to sing at the top of my lungs with no judgement. The only danger was that I wouldn’t have enough fun, and that was entirely up to me.

So, when my friends at work look at me like I’m insane every time I tell them I am out for another night of Karaoke, I try to explain that you don’t have to be a great (or even a good) singer to enjoy it. You just need to make sure you’re with great friends who are willing to let go of their fears and inhibitions as much as you are.

And if you have some reservations, a little jalapeno sake can always help get you through the first couple of songs…

Side note: I’m pretty sure this next photo was taken during one of the many Beastie Boys tributes of the evening.

And this next song had a line about tears… or crying. Our performances tend to get more literal as the night goes on.

Thanks for a wonderful night ladies and my apologies for keeping you all out so late. Who knew that a three hour Karaoke session could turn into five hours so easily? I guess that’s what happens when you’re having just TOO much fun.

When Life Gives You Birthday Rain, Make Rainbows

I had big plans for my birthday. I took a couple of days off work to enjoy some relaxation, photography and a little alone time. I mean, it worked last year so why not?

Torrential Portland rain, that’s why not.

So, instead, I worked around the rain and made the best of it. I still managed to do a few things on my checklist (Powells, a brief photo walk, karaoke) and also received a few unexpected surprises (cake!).

Here is my (very long) birthday weekend in photos – part 1.

THURSDAY (my birthday)

9am. Amazing Mexican Mocha Coffee with a ham and cheese croissant. Also managed to read an entire Willamette Week article from beginning to end.

11:00am. Head downtown to return some items at Banana Republic. Contemplate parking at Pioneer Place and consider walking around but decide against when a hurricane begins to blow in (only a slight exaggeration).

12:00pm. Settle for lunch at Violetta which was decadent and delicious. Grateful for my Kindle which enabled me to read and eat at the same time without the pages turning with each gust of wind.

Took a few stealth photos of the city while I protected my camera from the elements.

1:15pm. Drove to the Pearl District with one goal – to browse the Photo book section of Powells. Managed to leave having spent only $13 total for two second hand pocket-sized books. Must be a record of some sort.

2:00pm. Rain stopped for a short while, allowing me to walk around a little. It wasn’t part of the plan, but I decided to step inside Cargo Imports for the very first time. (Look at me being all spontaneous).

A friend mentioned to me a long time ago and, OMG, why didn’t I check it out sooner? Oh, right, probably because it would be a lot less fun saying “don’t touch that” and “stop running” and “look out” every 10 seconds while trying to take in the goodies around every corner. Seeing it on my own was the perfect thing to do and something I plan to relive when I have more than 20 minutes left on the meter.

2:50pm. Made it back to the car with minutes to spare before I was forced to donate to the Portland Parking fund. Headed home for a little downtime (like my entire day hasn’t been downtime).

4:30pm. Collected one of the children from daycare and then kept an eye on him through the door while he watched the neighbor kids throw a ball around in their front yard. Birthday dinner consisted of whatever I could find in the fridge (for me) and canned pasta (for him). I was pacing myself for a big weekend.

Deepest apologies to the neighbors who’s flowers also became a gift for me on the weekend. We put a stop to it as soon as we knew where they came from.

I asked Samuel to let me take his photo as a birthday present to me (I’m not afraid to play it). He gave me this. Love that kid.

Kei and Thomas arrived home a couple of hours later – bringing cake and the promise that I could open the birthday present that the UPS man kindly delivered to my door the previous evening.

Hello, my precious…

FRIDAY (day after my birthday but stopping before Karaoke because it needs a post of its’ own)

I don’t have many photos of Friday because, well, it wasn’t very exciting. It was raining again so I made the most of it with some indoor activities. Yoga in the morning followed by a couple of hours of catching up on some TV and then a lot of tidying up the house before my cleaners arrived.

4:00pm Left the house in the midst of a crazy downpour to pick up one child and then drive to meet the other.

1.5 hours later – finally arrived at the dinner destination about 10 miles away from our house. Thank you Portland traffic that can’t deal with rain even though we drive through it EVERY DAY.

Dinner consisted of reasonably priced, yet delicious, gourmet hot dogs.

After dinner we stopped by a special Art Show for Thomas’ after school program.

Kei took the kids on a (very quick) tour of the candy bus while I quickly headed home to be there in time for my Karaoke carpool.

Apparently I missed seeing the Llama and still only made it back about 10 minutes before the rest of the family. I’m a little sad about that. A Llama would have been a good addition to my birthday story.

OK – even I’m getting tired of the photos at this point so I’ll come back tomorrow to share some more highlights from the weekend. Hint: it includes a lot of singing, a delicious dinner and watching some heroes save the world (or New York, at least) from the front row of a movie theater.

Here’s a sneak peek.

Back soon.

Sunshine and Sing-a-longs

What began on on Thursday as a rainy (torrential) birthday, developed into a long weekend of celebration – filled with fun time with friends (5 hours of Karaoke), loads of family time, a night out with the husband and way too much chocolate cake.

I’m still working on the photos so look for a full report in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I’ll share a quick iphone pic of the cake that single handedly set me back on my goal to lose weight before summer, a fabulous cocktail that I hope to recreate, and a classic video clip of one the songs that kept the Karaoke party going until the wee hours of Saturday morning. The song also seems appropriate for a sunny start to the week (this one’s for you LeeAnn).

Happy Monday!


Wednesday Ramblings

I know everyone’s getting very tired of hearing about how busy I am, so I’m not going to talk about it.

…

OK, because I’m not going to talk about that-thing-I’m-not-going-to-talk-about, instead I’ll share a few random thoughts, musings, updates, photos.

  • Today is Wednesday and I stayed up way too late last night so I’m tired. The kind of tired that makes you drive past Starbucks in auto mode on your way to work and then turn around and head back even though you’re nearly at the office because the thing you really need this morning is coffee.
  • I stayed up late watching Glee with girlfriends whilst drinking glasses of red wine, so don’t feel too bad for me.

 

 

  • Tomorrow is my birthday. I’m going to be… wait for it… 37. Although I have to keep reminding myself of that because I have been thinking that this will be my 36th birthday for some time now. It took the guy at the grocery store who checked my ID (and was born in the same year) to wish me a happy upcoming 37th. I corrected him and then realized my mistake.
  • I don’t feel a day over 35.
  • I think I may have unconsciously given myself a fringe (that’s “bangs” for my American readers), in an effort to hold onto my youth.
  • I’m telling myself that I did it to give myself an edgier look before my upcoming work trip to New York.

  • Speaking of New York. I have about 24 hours of “free” time. Suggestions for how to narrow down a big long list of things I want to do to fill in that time are gladly accepted. There’s a lot to do in NYC.
  • Speaking of flying places, I took this photo with my iphone during my flight home from Seattle last week.

 

  • And speaking of my trip to Seattle, this is the view from one side of our office in Bellevue. The other side has views of the Seattle skyline.

  • My office in Portland has a view of a gold statue on the top of the Mormon temple. Just saying…
  • Thomas found a 1936 penny in our backyard last week. Our house was built in 1923 so it now has me wondering what other treasures might be buried back there. We could be living on a gold mine of worthless (but very interesting) pennies.

 

  • Starting to get very excited about our trip to Australia. It’s only a few weeks away now and I’m trying not to focus too much on all the work I have to do between now and then.
  • I’m taking tomorrow and Friday off so I can have a relaxing and very LONG birthday weekend. On the agenda: A solo photo walk around the city (praying it doesn’t rain too much), an hour or so to browse the photography section of Powells, at least one yoga class and maybe another trip to the gym, getting my house cleaned (by someone else :)), Karaoke with the girls, dinner with my husband while some very kind friends take our kids for the night… and LOTS of time to just relax.

  • 37!