What an intense couple of weeks it has been. I feel like I have barely had time to sit and think, let alone digest all the happenings. I'm spending today, however, attempting to do just that before heading off for my run and dinner shift at the restaurant.

YummyBoyfriend and I spent last weekend in Walla Walla celebrating my Stepdad's 60th and having a lovely time of it. We surprised him with a party at Sapolil Cellars where we partied into the night.
There was terrific wine, food, cake and prosecco, and Paul West showed up from Seattle to perform a song he had written just for his birthday. It was quite charming.
Arriving back in Portland last week, I spent Inauguration Tuesday with some friends and YB, celebrating Obama,celebrating the beginning of something new and hopeful. I have so many expectations for this presidency but I realize that the times we live in have more problems than one man may be able to solve within 4-8 years.
We began at Ten01 with the wine mafia, went to some bars and then Jacob's apartment, where his crazy neighbor showed up and complained. Finally somehow arrived at the Nines, a new hotel in downtown Portland, where our friends were staying for the night.
Madness ensued - mostly involving potted plant removal and abduction. Long story short: our friend Paul's wife is a madwoman and completely lovely....
I mean, what the heck is going on in this picture? Why is she posing coquetishly in the lobby? Why is everything blurry? Help!
I'm a lousy photographer with a really nice camera, I guess. What to do, what to do...
And then potted plants, of course, started waiting for elevators. All by themselves, apparently:
My nice leather purse was filled with water the next morning. I guess that explains everything.
In other news, I finished the new hat I was working on....naming it the Coco Beret. It's soft and lovely Berroco Peruvia in Chipotle and I love love love it!

I used a pattern from Ravelry, of course, but changed the size of the needles and weight of the yarn to my liking. Not quite the slouchy beret I had expected, but cute nonetheless.
I headed over to the Yarn Garden on Hawthorne and picked myself up these funny green buttons to spice it up a bit and now I think it's finished.
Happiness.
So that's it for now....there's still a Burgundian dinner and wine tasting to tell you about, but it will have to wait. I've been sitting by the heater too long.