Cupcakes or Kisses?

Friend: "Would you rather eat a cupcake or kiss him?"

Me: "Well I'd rather kiss him than eat a cupcake, but if the choice was kiss him or eat Chinese food, Chinese food would win hands down."

(conversation after our fourth winery, on our way to a cupcake shop in Newberg)

The last Saturday was fraught with romance, intrigue and suspense, aka wine tasting, drunken conversation and cupcakes.

Three of my friends and I met up at the Sherwood Starbucks and carpooled out to the Dundee Hills for our first group wine tasting. We kicked off the day with tastings at Winderlea, which was by far the most gorgeous tasting room and vineyard that we visited (the photo above is from their deck). Absolutely breathtaking. For $10 we received four tastings, a chardonnay, a rose and two pinot noirs. The rose was my favorite, although their Reserve pinot noir was delish as well. They also have a pair of adorable dogs who mingle with all of the guests and try to steal crackers from you.

We then meandered down the road to the Crumbled Rock tasting room. Not as awe-inspiring as Winderlea, but their fee was only $5 for four tastings, so I wasn't complaining. I enjoyed the wines I tasted, but only two of them were actually Crumbled Rock's; the rest were from other privately owned vineyards. I had an awesome time socializing with my friends at Crumbled Rock, but I don't know if in 10 years I'll remember that I tasted there.

Then we stopped to sober up at Farm to Fork off of Highway 99 in Dundee. I've been there quite a few times since I work in McMinnville, but my friends wanted to try it, and we didn't want to fork out the dough for Dundee Bistro (although the two are not that different in price). I had my usual $7 Parisian Baguette and was satisfied, but the service was super slow and we practically had to beg the waitress for the check. It definitely fit the classy high society wine tasting vibe, but I don't think my friends would stop there again just for a casual lunch.

After refueling with non-liquid substance, we once again piled into our 1990 Beemer and embarked on some of the more well-known and established wineries in the Dundee Hills. It was onto Domain Drouhin! After several wrong turns (piece of advice, don't let me be navigator during the next wine tasting excursion) we finally pulled into the gravel parking lot of one of the most respected wineries in the Willamette Valley. Let me tell you, the place was packed! But as soon as we walked in, one of the Domain Drouhin employees grabbed four wine glasses, found us a cozy corner on their deck and started pouring the first taste. Amazing service!

It was $10 for three tastings, which put it at the most expensive for the least amount of wine of the day, but it was worth it! Winderlea may be the winner for best ambiance (although Domain Drouhin came super close), Domaine took the prize for best wine. I absolutely loved the smoky taste of their 2008 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley, and the group as a whole raved about the 2006 Pinot Noir Laurene Cuvee, even though we all typically liked the pinot grigios and chardonnays (I know, I know, that's practically illegal to say in pinot noir country). At $40 and $65 a bottle though, respectively, they were both out of our price range.

Then we crossed the country road and headed to Vista Hills. It was our last winery of the day, and we needed to power through in order make it back to Beaverton for one of our group member's to pick up her car which was in the shop. It was $10 for 5 tastings (but they threw in an extra white wine tasting for free!) and was pretty delicious, although it was difficult to detect the difference between all of them when you are pounding them down and you've been drinking all day. I have no definite opinion on any of their wines, but the group agreed to start out with Vista Hills the next time we go wine tasting, in order to give them a fair chance.

It was leaving Vista Hills that we decided we needed a cupcake from Sweetest Thing Cupcakes in Newberg, and that's when the quote of the day took place (listed at the top of the page). Another awesome quote also came into existence ("I swear I've seen a horseshoe on his ass!"). The turtle cupcake from Sweetest Thing at $2.50 was bomb.com (attributed to JZ), but I'm not a huge sweets fan, and I could've passed on it (although that brings me back to my Chinese food comment...)

It was definitely a blast, and I think we hit some fun wineries for our first wine tasting trip! Now to start planning the next one...

Goals for this Fall

It's the start of a new season (my favorite one at that!), and I think I should make a list of activities I would like to accomplish by Christmas.

1. Set up my 401k (boring, I know, but necessary)

2. Write about any new restaurants or places I visit on this blog

3. Try out a new hike once a month (definitely putting Lost Lake on the list - looks gorgeous)

4. Go wine tasting

That's a good start!

Meditation Moment: Cooper Mountain

This is a photo that I found online of Cooper Mountain Nature Park in Beaverton. I went and walked one of the many trails there this evening before the sun set, and it was one of the best decisions I've made in awhile.

There was something so relaxing about being surrounded by nature, getting a slight workout, and just being completely by myself (with a few exceptions).

Maybe I should venture a little bit farther next weekend and find a damn lake to hike around (one of my goals this summer)!

My favorite quote of all time, courtesy of my father:

"Kasey, why don't you try mixing it up a bit and date a different shithead for once. I mean, let's introduce some new mind games, why don't we?

Some tidbits

• I can't stand walking around barefoot. Even when I'm in my own house, I need to have flip flops on.
• I hardly ever eat meat. It's not a conscious decision, I just never feel the need to include it in any of meals. That being said, I love when other people grill steaks or bratwursts for me.
• I find astrology fascinating, and I love reading about how my sign shapes my life.
• I love the self-help section of bookstores.
• I love spontaneous events. I will never turn down an unexpected activity, even if it will make me exhausted for work the next day.
• I hate when people leave their blinkers on while driving.
• I absolutely hate the sound of someone clipping their toenails.
• Previews are my favorite part of going to the movies.

It's been a long time...

This has been a long time coming, so it is no surprise that at the moment, I can consider myself single. I know that it is right, and I made the correct decision for myself, but sometimes I wish it can be different. It did not bother me as much during my work week since I was so busy, but over the course of this lazy weekend, numerous times I've been caught thinking about the good times, rather than the reasons that the relationship has stalled.

But there is a part of me that is excited for what is to come. Although I know I'm a long way away from marriage and kids, that doesn't stop me from being excited about being with someone who has the same desire to discuss the future, rather than pretend it doesn't exist.

I'm relieved to put everything from my past behind me and to focus on the future. Start the summer off with a clean slate.

I'm excited to experience the butterflies of meeting a new person that stands out from anyone else. I'm excited for the flirtatious texts, and the first time going to dinner and a movie. I'm excited for the moment right before our first kiss, and the hours afterwards that I will spend recounting it.

I'm excited for the night that we decide this relationship is something special and we want to make it "official." I'm excited for the cuddle sessions, the first night sleeping over, the night when he meets my friends, the nights where we drink too much and dance to pounding rap music at a club, the first time I let him drive my car.

I'm excited for the time when "I really really like you" becomes "I love you."

Obviously I am a long time away from this happening, since I don't even have a potential guy in my life. But, my father once told me that you know you're ready for a real relationship when you can say what you DO want in a relationship, rather than just what you DON'T want. And I'm finally at that point.

But until that guy walks into my life, I will enjoy the amount of time I can spend with my friends and family. And I will have a blast enjoying every moment of my life, rather than wishing for something that I know will not be.

San Francisco Trip

One of the benefits of working for both a non profit museum and a major corporate company is that I get to feel like I'm making a difference, yet still enjoy the perks of a corporate expense account. 

This last week, our corporate company needed to send their private G4 down to Napa Valley to pick up an investor. Luckily, the museum also wanted to visit an exhibit maker down in San Francisco and a few people, including myself, were invited to hitch a ride on the G4. 

So, here are some pictures from that trip. 

It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco!

The place where we ate lunch.

I had to order the fish and chips!

Some of our volunteers came along and visited the San Francisco Maritime Museum.

The museum staff and I went to the Exploratorium in downtown San Francisco. It was so much fun, and this is a picture of a tornado exhibit they had.

The gorgeous structure that the Exploratorium is housed in. 

San Francisco rush hour traffic.

It's a long story, but we had to drive to Stockton for our return trip in the G4. I took this picture because it brought back so many memories from when my family lived in California. We used to take road trips, and I always looked forward to the windmills and the rolling hills. I used to think the hills looked like sleeping dinosaurs, and I thought the same thing on this trip.

Spin-Masters

Some of you might know that I'm semi-obsessed with the celebrity world. 

I pass the time by checking Usmagazine.com, eonline.com and dayoldnews.com throughout the day. I get in heated discussions about Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's cross-dressing tendencies and whether Cash Warren did make out with Lindsay Lohan (hello? You're married to Jessica Alba! Get your shit together).

But there are times that I get a little thrown by the Hollywood PR machine. I mean, there are some absolute spin masters. I think the perfect example is....

Justin Bieber. 

Who the hell is this kid? He's like 10 years old and came out of nowhere. It was like one day the world was ruled by the Jonas Brothers, and then all these screaming tweens converted and started following this Bieber kid. 

His name is all over twitter. He face is plastered all over the news shows and magazines. Girls are fainting at his concerts. And he just recorded a song with Ludacris (this is crossing the line. Child Protective Services needs to get involved at this point).

I swear his PR team just started walking around and saying, "What?! You don't know who Justin Bieber is? Wow, you must've been living in a hole for the last year." And then everyone believed them!!

These guys are masters. But I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. Maybe I'm just too old for this crap anymore. I'm not going to fawn over some guy who isn't even flirting with the puberty line.  

The Corporate Life

It's been quite awhile since I've written, and since I'm new to this whole blog thing, I still struggle with figuring out what to write.

But honestly, I've struggled with alot of things lately. Although I'm thankful that I have a job when so few people I graduated with do (plus the fact its related to what I majored in), I'm not...how do I say this...stimulated in a creative way??

I spent the last two years of my college career overseeing seven other people who were conducting events, planning the biggest/most expensive events on campus, publicizing all of those events, and overseeing a budget of $130,000. I was also a part of all major decisions regarding campus life, maintaining my 3.89 GPA, hanging out with friends, serving on extracurricular activities, working at PR/Events internship, and for the most part having fun in a relationship. I was awarded the best mass communication senior award, the leadership award and graduated with honors.

And what do I do now? Nothing compared to that.

Yes, I do important things. I carry out the daily marketing/PR needs for where I work. But I have no creative outlet in it. Occasionally I come up with projects for myself that are approved and given permission to carry out, but on a regular basis I don't do anything that anyone else couldn't do.

And I don't want this to come across as complaining, because it's not. I recognize that I need to serve my time as the grunt person. I will fetch the coffee, file the papers and do the crap work. I knew what I was getting into and I'm extremely lucky because other people are doing worse, and I'm actually given more responsibility because I interned there for a year and they trust me with higher level projects. 

But frankly, I'm bored. I want to be in the meetings deciding on the fate of my institution. I want to decide how the marketing budget is being spent, and be the person who in power lunches is leading the conversation when our ad rep asks what our marketing plan is. I want to know that when I start a project, the powers that be will not swoop in at the end and finish it. I want to be completely stressed out, with no time on my hands, dealing with the bureaucratic bullshit that is unnecessary. 

I want to be that person!

Hopefully I will be at some point. Frankly, I know I will be at some point. But right now, I need to put in the time that I owe and soak up everything like a sponge. 

If there's anything that I've learned, it's that I will never work at a job that I can't stand. 

I will not work to live. I will live to work. 

I just need to put in the time/find the job that will allow me to do that. 

Decorating Wish #1

I love passing the time by browsing home design blogs (although you will never catch me watching HGTV), and I found a picture of this gorgeous living room. I love having plants in my apartment and even though I'm not a huge outdoorsy girl, I think rooms that incorporate nature into their indoor spaces are so peaceful. Here's a great example:

Click here to view the web site I pulled this from.