Brewfest!

My first Brewfest was Sunday. It topped 100 degrees, but that didn't stop us from drinking beer all day! We were also celebrating Chris' 25th birthday! Brewfest is held annually at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, OR. There were 8 trailers with over 100 breweries represented. My favorite beer was definitely the Doghead Festina Peche- tasted like lemonade! Here are pictures from the event.

A new meaning to the term "double fisting."

I was summoned by Jimi Hendrix!

And we became friends!

To some, Brewfest is a religion.

Launched! Winopreneurs.blogspot.com

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs. They seem to be a main theme of my life right now. My boyfriend and I launched our blog last week called Winopreneurs. It is a blog about the two of us starting out in the wine business and our journey to our first vintage in our *someday* winery. We are beyond excited about the reviews and encouragement filtering in about Winoprenuers. Check it out at:

www.winopreneurs.blogspot.com

also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/winopreneurs

Capture the Spirit Photography Contest

The Oregon Wine Board is hosting a photography contest called "Capture the Spirit of Oregon Wine Country" and Chris and I have both entered our work. The contest is based on popular vote (and of course our talent- hehe). Pretty, pretty, pretty please go HERE and click LOVE IT on any photos posted by us (Chris and Christine). With your help we will win a Oregon wine country trip or money that will go towards our future winery!

These are my submissions so far:




These are Chris' submissions so far:

Check out a new blog!

My Willamette Valley Vineyards blog is up and roaring! It has been a great project to start up. I have got to meet so many fun people, visit beautiful sites and learn an overwhelming amount about wine. Check out www.willamettevalleyvineyards.blogspot.com to see what is going on at the winery on the hill.

Does life get any better?

Although my weekend doesn't start until Sunday, I am just anticipating it so much. Chris and I are taking a scenic drive to the McMinnville/Dundee area for some photo ops and wine tasting. I am itching to get my camera out again! I can't wait to share the results with you.

We are also going to be filming some videos next week for the Oregon Wine Board "Capture the Spirit" video contest. We have brainstormed some pretty clever ideas and once they are produced I will need to count on you, my friends, to vote for us.

AND we just bought our tickets for The Decemberists concert on July 19th at Edgefield Winery in Portland. The Decemberists should be giving us their best performance being that Portland is their hometown. Andrew Bird is opening- extra treat! I have been listening to their CDs non-stop "preparing" for next Sunday!

Could Sundays get any better this summer?! Memorial day weekend wine tastings, Grants Pass trip, zoo, Diamond Lake, now these two, then Brewfest and Chris' birthday celebration?! I don't think so!

Calling blog designers!

Does anyone know of a really talented designer that could design a blog for cheap? Or anyone that designs blog templates? I have got a great project-a-brewing! Please pass on any information to me! Comment below or e-mail me at cmc99@mac.com.

Thanks!

Away We Go

Today Chris and I went and saw Away We Go. It was one of those spontaneous trips to the movie theater when we were on our way to the gym, but decided working out didn't sound very fun. Away We Go stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in a drama/comedy about the couple having a baby and deciding on a place in the US/Canada to live. The movie balances humor with real life so well that I found myself feeling like I was watching myself throughout the movie (not on the having a baby part, but in the figuring out what and where to be in life). I also found it endearing how close John Krasinski's character is to my boyfriend (from mannerisms to humor to sensitivity to facial hair). Very cute movie! I also loved the soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch.

Independence Day at the Cabin

The boyfriend and I made a quick trip down to my parent's cabin for the 4th of July. We road bikes around the lake and made a pit stop for this picture below...

Then a mosquito bit me on the boob! Itchy, Itchy. I have a total of about 30 bites from the weekend!
This was us before the firework show. Notice Chris is wearing a jacket my mom use to wear in the early 90s.
After fireworks we made s'mores. Definitely the best part about camping!

MMmmmm

Double MMmmm
On the drive back home on Sunday we stopped at this beautiful part of the North Umpqua River. We parked on the side of the road and climbed down a bank of rocks to get to this serene place. It was fun to lay out in the sun and wade and rock jump in the river. It felt like we were the only people in the world.

Hope all of you had a great (and not-so-itchy) 4th of July!

To José Gonzales:

You're beautiful lyrics are giving me chills on this 93 degree day.

New "Urban" market opens at Hawthorne!

I am beyond excited to check out the new market in my favorite Portland district! As soon as I get the chance, I will be there reporting the find. Awesome tidbit is that the market will accept bartering as payment!

Here is the press release I found:

The Hawthorne Urban Farmers' Market Announces a Grand Opening for 5 July

The Hawthorne Urban Farmers' Market (HUFM) will be celebrating its Grand Opening on Sunday, 5 July 2009, from 1-6pm and, operating every subsequent Sunday until Thanksgiving. This unique market is the only one in the Portland Metro Area that will primarily feature Ultra-local produce grown within the city limits, using the innovative distributed-network method. It is also the only Farmers' Market inOregon that officially accepts barter as payment (wow, I'm great at this).

Most farmers' markets in Portland and Greater Oregon are much larger and bring in folks from all over town for produce grown up to 75 or 100 miles away. The Hawthorne Urban Farmers' Market is small, but it also has an effective range of 15 miles. Some of the vendors perform their farmwork and come to market by bicycle. Through an arrangement of goodwill and mutual benefit, nearby businesses on the upper blocks of Hawthorne Boulevard allow their facilities to be used by market-goers. Just as the the Distributed-network Urban Farming Movement in Southeast Portland has grown up due to necessity on the part of a handful of intrepid, young farmers, the Hawthorne Urban Farmers' Market arose to supplement several unique and innovative styles of produce production and marketing. “Though it will seem like any Market from the outside, everything about this market is pragmatically cool and very South-east,” said Marie Richie of the Sellwood Garden Club, one of the more than half-a-dozen produce vendors expected to be present on any given week. “It's the way Portland will feed itself in the future,” added Farmer K of Sunroot Gardens. The Hawthorne Urban Farmers' Market is an experiment in self-organization that allows each vendor ultimate freedom to conduct business as he or she chooses. The market is also not affiliated with the Oregon Farmers' Market Association. It operates without fees from vendors but instead, relies upon a gift economy. For instance, vendors pitch in to give the entertainment and lot owners a bag of produce or give goods between each other to exchange what one might call the capital of goodwill.

Let the fun begin!

I am going to venture to say that most people's holiday weekend starts tomorrow. After my boyfriend and I get off work tomorrow we are headed down to Diamond Lake. My parents have a cabin down there and it has been tradition since I can remember to spend the 4th of July down there. For a few years now I have had to miss out on all the fun and work at golf tournaments, but this year I am being reunited! My aunts and uncles, grandma, parents, godfather, cousin, friend, and boyfriend will all be joining me. On the agenda is fishing, hiking, biking, sun bathing, swimming, BBQing, bonfiring, and rubbing on all the mosquito repellent that my skin can absorb. I can't wait!

I wish everyone a GREAT weekend!

Primer, for face? or should it stay on the walls?

On my trip today to the MAC Cosmetic counter for a new summer shade of foundation I also bought the MAC Prep + Prime Skin. Off the MAC website they claim it is, "An ultra-fluid lotion formulated with special-effect silicones. Calms and soothes the skin, blots away excess oil, and evens out skin redness. Improves the laydown and application of foundation or powder." As good as I am at selling things, I am just as good at being sold too. I believe anything those flamboyants tell me. So, I was wondering, has anyone used this product? What'd you think? Does it really minimize pores, smooth skins surface for easy foundation application?

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo... actually we already went.

Last Sunday Chris and I plus our other friend named Chris (could it get easier to remember??) all went to the Oregon Zoo. It was a pretty warm day up in Portland, therefore we mainly saw sleepy, lounging animals. Or no animals... like the polar bears, I don't even believe there are polar bears at the Oregon Zoo, because I went and checked three times.

Chris your facial expression makes me laugh!

I thought this was a cute picture of the piggies spooning.

I now fully believe I come from a monkey, more specifically chimpanzees, because I watched the chimps groom each other for about ten minutes. They were so adorable scratching each others backs, picking bugs of each other, and brushing the hair out of each other's faces. They acted liked a cute lil couple- just like my boyfriend and I- minus the bugs!

Another fun things about the Oregon Zoo is they sell ICEEs! It totally brought me back to elementary school on the last day of the year when we went to Skate Palace. I loved getting a Blue Raspberry ICEE, which made my teeth, tongue, and face all blue, while in-line skating to Ace-a-Base.