Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Guest Post: Janie Redecorates


Um. Hi. This is Janie. I am the dog. I have some thoughts and suggestions about the 1952 House.




I like my Mitchell Gold couch. It's real nice, but sometimes the people try to lay on it too. There is not enough room for both of us to stretch out. I found these chevron beds on flash-sale site Ruelala.com. If Jenn and Chad curl up, one of them could fit on each, and I could have the couch to myself.




Let's talk about the artwork in the 1952 House. Too many photos of chandeliers and too many limited-edition, hipster-made prints featuring cats and Pee Wee Herman. Let's have some dogs in the art. Not those silly poker playing dogs. Dogs don't play poker. We don't have thumbs. Our wagging tails would give away our hand, because we're guileless creatures. So here is some nice art from that sale too. I especially like the one about mutts that is a riff of that Sir Mixalot song. Although, I prefer the term "mystery-mix" to "mutt".

Also, and I can't stress this enough, please put the treats in the kitchen where I can reach them. I get tired of looking at you hopefully 15 times a day. Trading tricks for treats cheapens us both. Really.

**Credits: chevron beds by Thro, Marlo Lorenz. Artwork by Artehouse, Ginger Oliphant. All available on Ruelala.com for a limited time.**

Monday, August 20, 2012

Vay-cay-shun


We needed a break from our jobs, the 1952 House, our sweet (but demanding) pets, chores and whatnot. The rule in selecting the vacation destination this year: no big dirty cities. We wanted nature, cooler weather and not much of a hipster scene. Hood River, Oregon filled the bill.

Waterfalls, hiking, a brewery tour, daily siestas, reading fiction, touring local fruit stands/orchards and gazing out our hotel balcony doors at windsurfers filled the schedule. Being out in the boonies as it were, we had a great view of the Perseid Meteor Shower and the Milky Way. 

We also toured the Bonneville Dam mainly to check out the innovative, wildlife-friendly fish ladder. When we heard about the 450 pound Sturgeon fish down at the hatchery, we HAD to go meet him. His name is Herman. He is a big boy. 

On the way to the Portland Airport (just over an hour drive from Hood River) we decided to take a detour through Portland to shop at Powell's Books and deconstruct some Voodoo Doughnuts. The short time we spent in downtown Portland reminded us why we didn't want to vacation in a big city. Too many one-way streets, too little parking, too many aggressively weird people being aggressively weird.

Hopefully by next summer, the bank account will be ready for a trip to Ireland. If not, I vote for a stateside vacation in some other small town with not much to do aside from gawking at nature and soaking up cooler temperatures. 

Friday, August 03, 2012

Oh yeah... the show

I'll be performing in another dinner mystery show at Maggiano's on Monday. If you want to make me cry, ask me if I know all my lines yet to play the Master of Ceremonies / Detective, Heather Weathers.