Did Harry Potter make me single?

I have had a really busy week. Because of this, spending my only veg time writing posts was not on my list of things to do. Food and TV won this week. Sorry! But I’m really not sorry. Then I was all of a sudden motivated. Why? Because I realized I have never really written about my love for Harry Potter on here before. What’s that you say? “Laura, you reference your love for HP often!” Wrong. Yes, I reference it, but there has never been a post dedicated to my love for the wizarding world.

So here we go. I love Harry Potter. It is my favorite book series of all time. Over the years I have re-read a bunch of the books. Book 3 was my go to during high school. But I mostly devour 5 through 7 at the pool each summer. Note: book 7 came out the summer before my senior year in college. So we have only been blessed with the entire series for about 5 years now. Crazy right!?  

I just started the series again. I can honestly say that I have never read the entire series in consecutive order before. I would re-read later books again, but usually just before the next one came out! I remember making my high school boyfriend take me to the midnight release of book 5. Poor guy. He didn't read them, and I was a crazy 16 year old obsessed with children’s books. He dumped me when he left for college a month later. I wonder if it had anything to do with my ignoring him to read that book? Huh. I guess we’ll never know. When I say ignoring him, I really mean it. After he chauffeured me around and stood in line with me to get that book, I had him drop me off at home and I stayed up all night reading. I am pretty sure he didn't hear from me for the next 5 days. I was such a charming teen…

My fave of all time is Half Blood Prince (book 6). I love it more than the others because there is romance!

Here I am in college dressed up as a quidditch player for a sorority date party. Libby was my date (no comments please).

The movies! Duh, I love them too. Awesome job Warner Bros. Did I go to midnight showings? You bet I did. Did I dress up? You bet I did.

We were 22 when this happened. We are wearing our graduation gowns from college. This would be embarrassing, but it isn't! Harry Potter is awesome. I’m not embarrassed in the slightest. Although, I got dumped that summer too…. Maybe there is a theme here. Crap! I love Harry Potter, but has Harry Potter kept me from love?

Have a great weekend folks! I'll be out at the Antone Ranch with the horses and a HP book!

Independence Day!

Down with the Red Coats!

Have you noticed how the news calls it Independence Day rather than the 4th of July? Do they have to? “Independence Day” is the official holiday title, so I guess they can’t get sloppy and casual and call it the 4th. So pretentious.

I spent the most amazing weekend in Black Butte. [Read an old post about the ranch here!] What was so amazing you ask? Oh, just everything.

I subjected Brian to my family… so let’s just say I was thinking the weekend had the potential to be a little dicey. He could be like, “whoa, what is up with these people?” Or maybe he would embrace us, including the weirdness that is inevitably in every family. I mean, it isn't like you know what is weird about your family. You are in too deep. The weird is normal for you! Don’t worry, it was great!

The weekend was freaking awesome. I spent so much time in the sun. Time walking on the golf course and laying by the pool! I think I am probably no longer 98% water, but instead 96% water and 2% sunscreen.  (So I just researched this and the internet says we aren't 98% water. Umm. I’m pretty sure I learned that fact, turned myth, in science class. Great job public schools!) But seriously, it was a great weekend. The men and my mother golfed, my sister and I walked with them on the golf course and lounged by the pool… and we really did nothing else. Basically we ate, relaxed and sipped bevs for 4 days. What a great way to honor those who fought for our freedom!

Okay, that is all. Linking up with Sami today for weekend shenanigans, 4th of July edition! Pardon, I meant Independence Day. I hope you all had great weekends!

You want me to like, interact?

So you are alone in public. What do you do?

Fake texting- Everyone knows you are being a big faker. Especially if you are alone at a restaurant waiting for your friend arrive. Better to just put your phone down on the table and pretend to read the menu again.

Real texting- You are secretly worried that people think you are fake texting. Even though you are smiling at the texts…  It is obviously real! Jerks.

Instagram- You are waiting for your Starbucks drink to hit the bar. You decide to look at the Insta feed again, even though you just did that in line… I guess you should ‘like’ some stuff just to make it look like you are doing something. Better do some dramatic scrolling and double tapping. Elbows up!

Is it an addiction to our phones and social media? Or is it just a buffer used to alleviate our fears of human interaction? Let's continue:

Twitter- So you have a list created of tweeters that you actually read. There were only 24 new tweets? You scroll to the top of the regular feed anyway. No time for OMG Facts and Kardashian tweets. Too annoying.

Facebook- Ugh. Loathe checking Facebook. You never status update because there are work colleagues on there. Plus all the updates are annoying. Oh duh, you go on there to look at the pictures that you JUST saw on Insta. I guess I’ll like them here too… See this post. I still don’t know the appropriate etiquette!

Ummm now what? Do a Google image search for puppies. Yep

What if we didn't do this and instead we interacted with others? Never mind, I am obviously talking crazy.

TGIF on this non-Friday!  And…

Happy 4th of July!!!

Summer is here!!!

My weekend was AMAZING! Summer has finally arrived in Portland. I’m talking highs of 85ish to 92ish. So it is nice and bearable. Not 117! Like my friend Hanna is dealing with in AZ. Oh Oregon summer, how I love thee.

It all started on Saturday. I took a little bridge walk with some of my women. We went down the East bank, over the Morrison, up the waterfront and back over the Hawthorne. A short and sweet walk.  Just long enough to finish our iced coffees and catch up on super important life stuff. Like what level of “Britney breakdown” Amanda Bynes has reached. Life changing topics. She is not yet at the umbrella vs. car, shaved head phase… she is on her way though! (In case you were curious about what we decided)

Then I did this for the rest of the weekend:

Yes, I am re-reading the HP series for like the millionth time. What of it!? HP is amazing and Brian is about to hear Harry Potter references that he doesn’t understand for the rest of the summer. He will hate it. Maybe I should start working on an online dating profile now…  Just to get a jump on the inevitable.

Marina and I also went to see the Bling Ring. It was SO good! Especially if you know stuff about the accused or watched Pretty Wild on E! (I did both). Then we spent the rest of the evening downtown. It was perfect out at 10pm, so we wandered.

I hope your weekends were equally as awesome! Happy short week amigos! (Even though you’re probably mostly amigas)

Guest posting, quinoa and DIY.

Go check out my guest post over at A Well Crafted Party! Jenni is crazy talented at having crafty and cute events. I am not so much gifted in the crafty arena of life. DIY is not a regularly used term in my life. It is actually never used. Unless I’m talking about how I don’t DIY. But isn't that the whole point of blogs? To compare yourself to others and feel inadequate!?... Just kidding. Kinda.

ANYWAY, you don’t have to DIY to dazzle at a party! You can still make a splash if you bring an awesome dish to share. Check out my post and some super-secret shortcuts in this quinoa recipe.

Yes, I posted this recipe a year ago. I'm lazy. Sue me.

Printing a retraction: Yoga.

I did yoga last night. Like good yoga. Know what I learned? I have only ever been to bad yoga classes before. Last night I went to Corepower Yoga. My friend Chelsii works there and has been trying to convince me to go forever! Well, ever since I posted that I don’t like yoga because I think it is boring. Because it was! Every single yoga class I had been to was boring. Hot yoga, regular yoga, vinyasa, freaking weird neighborhood studio (with creepy chanting)... all of it. BUT last night the class I went to was awesome! It was warm, not hot like Bikram, it had a good playlist and it was a fast pace. It definitely doesn't take the place of cardio paired with a Britney playlist, but at the end of the class I kind of felt like I could take on an attacker or intruder or something.

So Chelsii, I retract my statement that yoga is boring. I mean, it is still a little bit low key for me, but it is a great workout! Truthfully, I probably won’t be shelling out the big bucks for classes once my free week is over, but I may drop in every now and then!

If you like the idea of yoga and want a real work out, or if the hippy dippy stuff freaks you out, go to Corepower. I wish they were going to give me free stuff for this post… that selfish perspective is SO not yogi of me. Whatevs.

After only one class, I now have fame across PDX for my extraordinary skill in both child's pose and shavasana. 

Namaste.

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The almost weekend, baby names and #backthatazzup.

I have never been so ready for a week to be over! Seriously. All that time on the phone with insurance adjusters… bleh. I also spent my fair amount of time on the phone with Comcast this week. Or should we call them Comcrap? I am beyond ready for the weekend. I have back to back bridal showers to attend on Saturday. And you know what that means!? Good food and drinks ALL DAY! Booya!

In other news, the Kardashian/ West’s decided to name their baby North. Yep. North West, Nori for short. What did we really expect though?… this is what happens when two unintelligent and narcissistic people procreate. They named their kid in a way that would give them more attention. Plus, they are celebrities, and Frank Zappa already took Diva Thin and Moon Unit.

via

I know you are as excited as I am for the weekend, so let’s #backthatazzup. It is time to move on from this week and on to the Next Episode. Why is it that Snoop and Dre have the ability to make me feel better? Maybe it is because they remind me of a simpler time. A time when Otter Pops were in abundance, summer break still existed and I thought I was the most “hood” teenager ever.