Eric and Melissa

Christmas Day

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:11:00 +0000

We started the day with breakfast in bed. The table below is the chef;s table where we had dinner. Very personal and local.

THe entrance to the dining restaurant

Freezing our dessert with nitrious oxide.
one of the courses - cleansing the palette.

Christmas crackers and king hats. I got a quality gift of pirate tattoos which i gave to eric and got his slide whistle in return.

Course #1.
On our walk, a freaky looking jelly fish.

Moses.

Canadian mountains on the dog beach.

A coastal christmas tree.

Our View

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:57:00 +0000

The View from our balcony.

Christmas Day gifts!!

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:50:00 +0000

"Get this thing off me."
Christmas kiss.

(that is a mockup of a nail gun.)

UC Champions (as we were informed).

Eric should be a HSN model.
He LOVES his new bibs. Even showed me how to use them when you have to go to the bathroom. Yuck.

Very funny.

Eric always wants to know how his butt looks in things.
Very pretty. I look ok myself as well.

Christmas Eve

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:13:00 +0000

We rolled into the Inn at Langley yesterday afternoon. Located on Whidbey Island (which Eric says isn't really an island, whatever). A 6 hour drive north from Portland. A few minor mishaps on the way up - we don't like Washington cops anymore let's just leave it at that. But we rolled into a beautiful inn in a wonderful, peaceful setting.

Eric playing with Minnie....he he he. Minnie's christmas gift (the reindeer, not eric)

Beach view. Ours is the lower balcony on the left. Oceanfront.

Peaceful view as the sun sets. A heron just resting outside our balcony.

The town just 50 feet away. We walked to dinner just down the street at Cafe Langley.

Our "spa" session is tomorrow morning - a couples' massage. (the 26th).

Minnie and me.
Beautiful. I zoomed in a lot for this. Our camera caught even the texture of his feathers. I think it's a he, who knows.

Pondering life.
Eric's framing gloves. What happened to his other 2 fingers???? Carpentry accident I guess. :)

The fam. Kissed by a Minnie dog. Caught in the act.

"I love my reindeer. I hate my Christmas shirt."

We have a jacuzzi. Eric got a little over zealous with the bubbles.

Look for the next picture installment!!!!!

Holiday Party!

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:04:00 +0000

This year we are very behind, and lazy. This year we did a cocktail holiday party to see our friends before we all jet off to beyond.

The hosts.

The furry host.
The evening entertainment. Not really.

We LOVE treats. We are so good. Look at us. Aren't we good listeners? What?

At the food table.

Eric's specialty cocktail sure knocks a punch. It knocked Jason out.

Look at those tongues. Gross.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Poor kitty/Roxi has an identity crisis and no gifts. What does one get a cat?

Ready.
Eric the bartender. Mixing up "peppermint chocolate martinis."

Junior mints and sugar rim preparations.

The Tree that Wasn't

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Well. We thought a $5 tree was worth it. It still remains to be seen. The forest service at Mt. Hood allows you to cut down the evergreens for Christmas. However, we seemed to pick a real mountain tree that doesn't want to stay in the base. And, it's a little large. But here are some pics from the day.

Mom and Dad

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Don't they look nice? They had their Christmas Dance and took their turns as wine stewards.

Very matchy. Nice.

More Wreaths

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:38:00 +0000

And it's off to the Mountain for us to get our tree. Look for pictures soon, assuming we make it back. :)

So now I'm on a wreath kick. Watch out...I may start a wreath business!! It might be more profitable than what I do now. So Sharon, Carmen, and I went to Portland Nursery to make our own wreaths with all their fresh cuttings. The results were very nice. Though Sharon still isn't convinced that she won't buy one next year. :)

Carmen and her Juniper berry wreath.

Sharon and her holly berry wreath.
My wispy, cedar clipping wreath with pine cones. Very simple. Now on our back door!

High Tea

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:27:00 +0000

We had holiday high tea at the historic tea lounge within the Heathman Hotel.

"Blueberry tea"
finger sandwiches, desserts, and all sorts of goodies.

Glass Pieces

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Photographs of the blown glass pieces we made.

My bowl.
Jeff's speckled gazing ball.

Eric's ornament.
Kathy's ornament.

Southern Oregon Weekend

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:39:00 +0000

We headed out early Friday morning not sure what the weekend held for us. We had reservations at a bed and breakfast called "Eagle Creek Lodge" halfway between Sisters, Oregon and Eugene (home of University of Oregon - the Ducks). We found our way to a glass blowing studio in Eugene where we each tried our hand (with lots and lots of help) at various blown glass pieces - ornaments, bowls, pond floaters. There's also a number of wineries along the route so we had to sample some of those as well.

Eric's ornament. He's attaching on the hook part.

The studio. Minnie just roamed around.

The glass blowing studio.
At Pfieffer Vineyards, in the Cellar for a private tasting.

At Sweet Cheeks Vineyard. More about the view than the wine.

At King's Estate.
The weather held for the weekend. Really, it is NOT like this in November. This is unusual.

Celebrating a successful glass blowing lesson.

Supervising the wreath making. Our hosts at the bed and breakfast were kind enough to let me make one a week earlier than planned with all the fresh materials she had assembled - cedar, fir clippings, juniper berries, holly, manzanita leaves.

Eric at the edge of the McKenzie River which flowed just in front of the b&b.

Eagle Creek Lodge from the "front" that faces the McKenzie River. Half way between Sisters and Eugene.

My mountain homemade "natural" wreath.

Very serious about wreath making.
The winos. Including Minnie.

International Thanksgiving

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Some first pictures from last night's events!

grilling on the cedar planks.

Minnie and Baron. Minnie the stealth pooper. :(

The main course.
The table for 8.
Eating my pride and joy course - acorn squash soup in squash bowls. That was a lot of work.

The presentation.

Trip to Ohio

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:53:00 +0000

I went back to Ohio with Minnie to meet up with Eric and spend some time with the fam. It nicely coincided with Halloween so I brought alone Minnie's costume.

"I will get you back for this." You should see how creative my office got with this photo and captions.

What is it with dogs and their fascination with the other dog's toys?

Grandpa and pet therapy. :)

Lauren celebrated her 24th birthday. Enough candles on that cake?

Visited with Jody and Joey. At 3 months of age, he's very proudly holding his head up high.

Tango was VERY fascinated with his little friend. Minnie got a little testy after having a 70lb shadow for 3 days straight.

Sleeeeeeeeepy.

Minnie's New Trick

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:10:00 +0000

Eric teaches Minnie a new trick.

Punkin Patch

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Minnie's 2nd Birthday!

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Minnie celebrated her second birthday today at the office. She had quite a turnout for her celebration.

Human cupcakes for the humans.

The humans.
Doggie cupcake for the dog.

I swear it took over 30 minutes to work through the icing. She did find quite the surprise inside though - peanut butter.

Please let me eat....

The girls. Minnie is now completely wiped out from too much birthday.

Eric's 30th Birthday Party!

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:33:00 +0000

We had a celebration for Eric's 30th birthday at our house with Sharon, Simon and the furry kids.

The girls. It's blurry because they didn't stop playing for 4 hours. I can speak for the fact that Minnie is not moving today. A tired dog is a good dog. :)

Opening the birthday presents.

A kiss for the birthday boy.

German chocolate birthday cake. They didn't listen to me when I said simple, non colorful writing. Whatever.

Fire. Eric was not able to blow out all his candles. Booooo.

Eric and the newlyweds. Just back from their honeymoon in fact!

Traveling to the South

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:56:00 +0000

I can now say that I have been to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri, all in the span of a week and a half. Rented a white caddy for half of it. This picture was taken on the last day...we look a little tired because we were. And sick. We toured 9 healthcare facilities, did 40 patient journeys, conducted 20 focus groups and drove over 800 miles. And then I needed to go to the doctor afterwards. Ironic.

Stacy and I. Stacy is our summer intern who we hope to hire!

It Is Done

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Eric finished the salvaged end grain wood chair. We did a little Portland photoshoot on Sunday. And take note, it is sunny and blue sky.

He used the layout of the fiberglass chair that you may be familiar with and redesigned the metal base to be more minimal.

It is now on display with the other chairs. We're thinking of opening a chair museum, or having a dinner party where everyone plays musical chairs. Now, if Eric would just design a new dining room table....

OK City Memorial

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:53:00 +0000

A brief site seeing tour stop in Oklahoma. Very moving at night. Two walls constructed of reclaimed building material clad in metal panel, one saying 9:01 and the other 9:03. A shallow pool of water is all that remains in between symbolizing 9:02 when the bomb went off.

Grandpa's 84th Birthday!

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Happy Anniversary to Us.

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:50:00 +0000

We celebrated our anniversary in an unusual way. I unfortunately had to travel, again, to Seattle. It is sad when the rest stops look familiar. Eric came along the ride and we took off after the meeting in Redmond to stop at the Seattle waterfront and celebrate 3 wonderful years.

The Market.
The market.
I was so taken by the dining moment at sunset on the Seattle waterfront that I closed my eyes in anticipation.
A brief detour to photograph the Seattle Public Library by Rem.

Inside of Seattle Public Library. What, that isn't romantic?

A toast to 3 years.

Quick Recap

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:44:00 +0000

Well. Things are busy. Mom and Dad visited here in Portland the week before and the weather stayed nice, hopefully to prove that it really doesn't rain year round out here. Shocker.

A very tired Minnie dog.
Pittock Mansion views.

Columbia River and Hood River wineries.

Minnie tucked herself in.

We caught up with Eric to see him sail in and out, and in and out. This week they finally learned how to open and close the sails. It's about time.

Williams visit - Part 1

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:47:00 +0000

Sleepy girl.

What We Have Been Doing

edaydesign@gmail.com (MELISSA DAY) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Well, we've been a bit of homebodies as of late. Fixing up the place for some upcoming guests. And taking advantage of the weather here while it lasts.

Kitty in a drawer. Mom and dad, we'll have her cleared out in time for your visit! MEOW!!!!

Made some upgrades. Upgrade #1, no more rug. Makes the places seem bigger. Put some beautiful wedding detail pictures up 3 years after the wedding. Got some real plants that the cat won't eat and made a kitchen window sill herb garden (mint, thyme, rosemary, basil). Very handy for the fall and for impromptu mojitos!!

Next upgrade was a larger wool, yes, white, rug for the living room. Needless to say, it has been a hit all around. See below.

They fight for positions on the rug nearly every evening. The cat has decided this is her dream come true and they roll their little backs (and black hair) all over it.

Eric is taking beginner sailing lessons. If you squint, you can see him in the black tshirt. It's a 30' boat with 3 students and 1 instructor. They were practicing going out on a blind corner. In and out, in and out. He has 6 weeks of 2.5 hours each. He has a textbook and everything.

This isn't Minnie, but some distant cousin. They just love being held. This was the Boston Terrier Picnic Reunion 2009.

Boston Reunion Picture. 45 this year. As usual, Minnie's mom, Stormy tried to attack her.

Eric and our little one. She was so excited she was buggie eyed and hopping up and down for most of the 3 hours. Until I got stung and then it was time to leave.