Fresh Prince cheats with Jazzy Jeff. PSYCH!

This post is not funky fresh! It has been a week since the news of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alleged separation. I have now had the appropriate time to reflect on the situation. If Will and Jada get divorced I will loose it. I freak-yeah love them! I refuse to believe that Jada cheated with Mark Anthony. He is just not attractive. period. I think I am having a strong reaction to this because Will and Jada are one of my favy couples in Hollywood. Not to mention their kids rock my socks off! (For the record, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are my favorite Hollywood couple. Will and Jada are probs second.)

Say it isn't so!

Back to the kiddos:

Just take a moment to reflect on Jayden Smith’s cameo in that J.Biebs song. Come on people, you know it was the best / you love to sing along to J.Biebs. Please admit that you saw Never Say Never 3D. My people saw it! We didn't see it in 3D but none the less, it was an outing. We were the only ones in the theatre on a week night and we danced and sang along! And I can’t forget my love for little Willow Smith. Gurl totally represented the hair flip in her song, ‘Whip My Hair.’ A slightly annoying song… but I love myself a good hair flip.



Awesome looking fam/ awesome pants! haha

It is true that Will Smith does the same movie over and over again. Those premieres probably get old… but who wouldn’t want to stay married to the Fresh Prince!? I hope these rumors are false… although, I doubt they are.

Brunch in Bridgetown: Mother's

Mother's Bistro and Bar is another popular spot in Portland. I promise to do some obscure ones eventually. I have just been really generic the past few weeks in my dining choices.

The only way to do Mother's is with one other person. If you go with more than two, you are looking at an hour+ wait. BUT if you go with two, you can usually grab a seat at the bar within 10min. The bar at Mother's is first come, first serve. You may have to get a little friendly with a stranger, but whatever! Once you dig in you won't care that they have their elbow all up in your space. Again, bomb BM. They use pepper infused vodka in their homemade mix. I didn’t have one yesterday though. It seems that people really rave about the mimosa/ bellini options. They have 7 different sparkling wine/ champy bevs on their drink menu. And as I sit at the bar for brunch (regularly) those are the most frequently made drinks. I am not a big breakfast drinker, but champy with fruit puree sounds like a winner to me! I am a big coffee drinker. One of the perks of mothers is the French press for two (Helzer's also offers a French press). Perfect for the bar sitting duo! Yesterday we ordered the Holler Mountain brew. It was outstandingly smooth and delicious. 

The ambiance of Mother's is less trendy than Screen Door. You are more likely to see sundresses vs. skinny jeans or American Apparel. But isn’t that just the east/west divide? Think velvet and chandeliers. It is a beautiful spot. There are more families, couples and groups of girls. People show up with cakes for celebrations to hand off to the hostess etc. If your parents are in from out of town, take them to Mother's. I do love the friendly atmosphere of this establishment. When my friend and I sat down. One of the bartenders may or may not have said “welcome back girls!” While the other said “salmon hash right? How do you want your eggs today?” Does this mean we go there too much?  

Back to the important stuff. What to order! My favy meal at Mother's is the wild salmon hash. I will go on the record and say it is the best breakfast dish in the city of Portland. Please, I welcome a challenge to this statement. It is AMAZING. Fresh salmon. Not smoked. This is the big difference. A lot of places carry smoked salmon hash. Vom. It does not compare to the fresh salmon hash at Mother's.

Take a looker:

Our delish French press coffee.

Yummy yummy wild salmon hash.

Mar and her (vegan) veggie scramble w/ avocado.

After our meal I got into a discussion with my neighbor at the bar. He was raving about the cornflake crusted French toast. Yes, it looked delicious. He gets it every time and I told him that I get the salmon hash every time. We discussed savory vs. sweet breakfasts. I prefer savory. Not because I don’t like sweet breakfasts, but because you can generally make versions of sweet breakfasts yourself. Pancakes, French toast etc. My mother taught me that if you are going out to eat you should order something you wouldn’t make at home. If you are spending money on your meal, you should make it count! The crab cake benedict from Seasons and Regions or the wild mushroom omelet with fresh herbs and goat cheese from Besaw's are two things I wouldn’t make myself. The omelet is a bit more likely, but who goes to the store and buys a variety of wild mushrooms for a random breakfast dish? The heavenly wild salmon hash from Mothers fits perfectly into this category. It is too much work to make yourself. And even if you tried, you would not be able to replicate the perfection that is this dish. Instead of a review of the restaurant this post turned into a rant about good breakfast… whatevs. My breakfast this weekend was da bomb!

Portland on Dwellable

Very Pinteresting.

So you need outfit inspiration or a new recipe? Where should you go? Pinterest. It is where all of the pretty things on the internet hang out. It is the new hot spot of the Internet. For you wildcats, think roof top on a Thursday night. Everyone wants to see and be seen on some Pinterest pin boards. How special do you feel when you get re-pinned by a stranger? Such a compliment, it means you have good taste…Or at least the same bad taste as someone else. My darling sister welcomed me into the world of Pinterest a while back. Listen ladies: you no longer have to be held down by copying and pasting an image and emailing it to yourself! You see something you like? Pin that bologna!

I took this from life is reed-iculous. She is awesome! Appropriate image for this post.

I don’t pin that much and all the britches that I follow pin the same crap because they read the same blogs. BUT if you go to the “everything” page or use the search option you can find AWESOME things. If you don’t have a Pinterest yet you are behind the times, email me if you need an invite! I’m happy to spread the pinning joy. Slater gators!

PS. TGIF! (Not the show. Just the saying... since it is Friday and all.)

The rapids ahead are not yet rated.

My dear friend Ben is a river person. I don’t mean like scary possessed river people that live in the currents and grab the ankles of unsuspecting humans. I mean he grew up spending a lot of time on the water. You know, some families are ski people or golf people etc. Well, Ben grew up on the McKenzie River near Eugene and they (Ben and his twin sis Teagan) grew up rafting. Selfish moment: I love that they were raised like this because I get to benefit from it! Ben knows how to “read the river.” For example, I think we are about to hit branches or rocks, but he knows otherwise. He was a raft guide for at least one summer during college and all that good stuff. In addition, Ben likes to take his friends on killer raft trips. I have participated in the day trips down the McKenzie a few times. But I only journeyed on a week long trip down the Rouge once. No matter what suits you best, they are all too much fun for words.

Ben (the river person/ raft guide extraordinaire)

Besides the games, songs and PB sandwiches, you get to live a little bit adventurously for a short period of time.

5 things I learned on the McKenzie River (2011 addition):

1. Do not blow the whistle attached to your life jacket. If you do so repeatedly, people will get annoyed and threaten you. OR they will think you are drowning.

2. My sister is crazy. Well, I may have known this previously. But I learned that my sister (on the river) will body check you during rapids. Basically, do not sit in front of her because her paddle will leave a mark on your back or a bruise on your leg.

3. PB and honey sandwiches taste better outside.

4. Apparently nudity is accepted. Maybe it was because we were near Eugene… but there was def a nude lady sitting on the river bank at one point.

5. Circus Animal cookies are AMAZING! Remember those? (the pink and white ones with sprinkles) We brought some with and they were killer. Buy them. It will take you back/ they are delish.

The one day adventure of 2011 was as fabulous as any. We drove south on Friday evening after work and stayed at Ben’s folk’s home. There was food and wine in play that evening, as well as good conversation. Then we got up bright and early for some breakfast and river time!

Take a looker here:

The most hard core rafting crew EVER.

Action shot. Note: so hard core/ not wearing life jackets.

BFF4L (best friends forever for life) Duh.

Ben, since I personally added my blog to your home page... yeah, I'm that girl. I am hoping that you read this/ love it. Thank you so much for taking us down the river! We love you!

God made mud, God made dirt, God made guys so girls can flirt!

So I had some questions about flirting. I myself have never mastered the craft. These are some notes that I think apply across the board… but who knows!? I take cues from my friends (also single), church (pastors are usually married and have forgotten what it is like out there), magazines (not real life) and TV (also not real life). SO… I am obvi at a loss when it comes to flirting expertise.

What I have learned in my 24 years of life. Smiling probably helps. As long as it isn’t an all-teeth smile that scares them away. You know, due looking all crazy and such. Laugh when they aren’t funny because it helps to be encouraging BUT do not get all extreme with the laughing. No one wants to see a cocktail coming out of your nose. Finding common interests… OR making some up? My interests aren’t that common. Wait, doesn’t every guy love reality TV, celebrity gossip and cheerleading? Not so much. I feel like when meeting someone new you should be good at things. And if you aren’t good at things… lie about it? Haha! I mean, they can learn the truth after they have fallen in love with your charm and hilarity! Right?!

At this point they are at least interested. Now you suggest a book. This means you can read (and probably did not attend Portland Public Schools). I rarely get to this point and once I post this I will probably Google “books to suggest to boys.” Okay, so now you are going to be friends on Facebook… Do not poke! Never poke… so creepy.

Does anyone have good flirting tips or hilarious disaster stories? I will ask some of my people and get back to you. This may warrant another post.

"You're not going to Space Camp but at least you've got those remote control trucks and your confidence."- Kirk Fogg

(Kirk Fogg was the host of Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Over the Christmas holiday I was given the first season of Boy Meets World on DVD. Oh.Emm.Gee. I am telling you right now, that poo is hilarious. No wonder we loved it! Cory+Topanga=LOVE. It takes me back to those evenings of TGIF. What a line up! The 90s were the best! Boy Meets World, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Full House, Step by Step, Dinosaurs etc. Are you freaking kidding me!? Now that was good TV. Just pause and think about the baby from Dinosaurs. What was that? What a weird show. Remember when the brother was trying to prove that the world was round and walked all the way around the earth? Ummm excuse me?... I was never great at geography, but I am pretty sure that isn’t possible…

I would also like to inform you that a channel called TeenNick is bringing back our old favy shows. Apparently they are on “late night”… does that mean we are old enough to have our own version of Nick at Nite? Lord help us, we are getting old. This segment with vintage programming will be called The 90s are All That. Click Here for a trip down memory lane.

Here is a list of what shows have been featured in the promo:

(I bolded my favorites)

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

The Adventures of Pete & Pete

The Amanda Show

Are You Afraid of the Dark

Cat Dog

Double Dare

GUTs

Hey Arnold!

Hey Dude

Legends of the Hidden Temple

The Ren and Stimpy Show

Rocket Power

Rockos Modern Life

Rugrats

Salute Your Shorts

The Secret World of Alex Mack

Weinerville

How amazing is this!? I wish I had access to this channel. Why is it that the grand prize of the competition shows was always a trip to space camp? Okay, just to prove to you how much I loved Legends of the Hidden Temple. Check out Halloween circa ’07:

The lovely purple parrots. Libby was clearly jacked for Halloween!

Climbing treacherous territory (the stairs of the white apts)

Blue barracudas and a red jaguar

My fellow red jaguar

Remember how hard it was for those idiots to put together the silver monkey? Haha! It was 3 pieces! And the other prizes were a pair of Sketchers or a humungous “portable” boom box AKA Ghetto Blaster that took like 6 huge batteries. My sister got a boom box for Christmas once. I was still in the doll phase, but that boom box was giant super cool.  After receiving this boom box from Santa, we promptly went to Tower Records so she could get the newest Boys II Men CD.

I feel like I have left out so many good shows in this post. I mean, all my love to Saved by the Bell and Ghostwriter etc. I just don’t have time. I sort of feel that Saved by the Bell deserves its own post. You know? As I write this, I realize that I probably watched too much TV as a child. Maybe that is why I am so bad at math?...

PS. TV isn't all bad. Think about how much you learned from Wishbone!

Yikes! I am going to Powell’s tonight to get a book. It will be my weak attempt to compensate for this obscenely ridiculous television related post.

"Feeding wildcat nation the celebrity gossip it's hungry for?"... not really.

I have a strange hobby. I also consider it a gift. I can retain the most useless information EVER. I really enjoy entertainment news, celebrity gossip if you will. Do I know basic math? No. (Again, I choose to blame Portland Public Schools). BUT I know celebrities, their significant others, their babies names etc.

This hobby of mine was significant enough to warrant a gig. I was in a radio class for my mass comm. major. In this class I/ we (my co-host) decided that we should host a celebrity gossip radio show. It was a BLAST! I mean, nobody listened… but who freaking cares!? I had fun and although useless, I got to talk about something I actually knew about.

I think I inherited this strange love of pop culture. My Aunt is also really good at retaining information from popular culture. Maybe it is because we both love tabloids. Maybe it is because we both like to watch TV and stay up on what the “new thing” is. It is always fun to goof around and catch up with her because we talk about things that we “know about” as if it is happening to our closest and dearest friend or neighbor, even though these celebs have no idea that we exist on God’s green earth.

Do I love E! News? YES! Do I love to read D.O.N.? YES! I have been reading her blog since 2006. She is the best because she keeps up with the happenings of my favy celebs, while also briefing us on the important things. ie. What they are wearing and who they were with while wearing it. You should follow her blog. She is fabulous!

These are my favorite weekly mags. They contian hard hitting news. clearly.

I am sure there are more productive ways to spend my time. Volunteering, helping the needy and feeding the children. What do you expect me to do!? I gotta keep up with my gurl Britney? She needs me too. If I am not there watching her every move, who is going to make sure she is making positive life choices? Well, probably someone she knows in real life, but still.

Fact: I still checked up on celebrity news whist in Nicaragua. Feel free to judge me. You absolutely should! Just remember, you too will be judged… I think I read that somewhere. And He has WAY more power than little old me.

Okay, story time:

Once my sister was with a group of her girlfriends when she called me randomly and (for some reason) I picked up. She asked who played Harriet in Harriet the Spy (Rosie O’Donnell Version). My response went something like this: “Michelle Trachtenberg. Duh.”

Sometimes I forget that not everyone retains useless/ pointless information so easily. If only I used my powers for good rather than evil…