Kissy French's Last Dance: Part 1

To celebrate Kissy French's last dance (or Kylee's bachelorette party), we all headed down to Portland for a weekend that turned out to be the best time ever! I had been looking forward to it for a long time, and I still find myself remembering how much fun we had. These girls, I tell ya...hilarious.

A few of us got the party started early on Friday by meeting at the train station to travel down to PDX in style. None of us had taken the train before, so didn't know what to expect. It was so easy and nice to not have to deal with driving and traffic. I probably won't go any other way from now on! 

drinks and snacks in the "lounge" car

Me and my Boo

After 4 short hours, we arrived. We got checked into the Westin, which happens to be right across the street from Portland's food truck scene. We headed straight over for an early dinner.

food truck heaven - so many options!

After eating, we went back to our rooms to prepare for 80s night. Kylee's maid of honor, Jennifer, had planned the whole weekend for us, and found an 80s video attack night at the Crystal Ballroom. Perfect for our little bride-to-be dancing queen! 

Everyone went full-out with the costumes. Neon, leg warmers, crushed velvet, side ponies...even crimped hair! Once we were all ready, we headed to Kylee's room for a dance party before heading out for the night.

Me and Colleen in her 80s
prom dress...so great

party favors from Jen

loved Weiner's fanny pack on her belly bump

sisters

Daniella workin it

group photo

hair make over from Kylee

big hair

 

bridal party

group shot before leaving the hotel

we made quite the scene

ready for a workout

We arrived at the Crystal Ballroom ready to dance. The place was huge and they had a bunch of screens set up all playing 80s music videos, it was great. We even had our own table reserved! What we weren't ready for was the heat. With a big crowded room full of people jumping around, no open windows, and only two fans in sight...this place was steamy. I've never been so sweaty. Kylee was a trooper and danced her heart out the whole time. Must be all that hot yoga she's used to.

#kissyfrenchslastdance

trying to keep cool

bogarting the fan

After the ballroom, we headed to Splash Bar. It wasn't 80s night there, but we sorta took over and turned it into one. There was also a raised platform for Kylee to relive her go-go days.

We left Splash and made a run for Pita Pit (yes, I fudged on my diet a bit). We also came upon a fleet of pedicabs to take us back to the hotel. It was one of the best nights ever, and a perfect way to celebrate Kylee. She was definitely in her element!

bride-to-be in her chariot

The following was my attempt to capture Kylee's night. This is pretty much how I remember it, a little blurry. Thank goodness for Weiner and her sober pregnant lady photos!

Summer Solstice

The Fremont Summer Solstice parade happened to fall on the same day as our skydive. So, from Snohomish we headed straight to Duane's place on Eastlake. From there the four of us walked down to Gas Works park and met up with some other friends. The park was super crowded. This was actually the first summer solstice I can remember that we've had nice weather.

Everyone was out in their body paint after the bicycle parade, so there was definitely more than enough people watching. We hung out in the beer garden for a bit, watched some half naked double-dutch, then decided to make the trek further down to Fremont and check out the rest of the action.

beautiful day at Gas Works

We came across a few bands, some more beer gardens, and even ran into some more friends. I found Anne at LTD, and we reminisced about the good ol' days with our Summer Solstice parties at the Dexter house. It turned out to be a great way to finish up an already awesome day.

yes, Clint needs a tan :)

Anne and crew - taken with an actual polaroid camera!

Clint's birthday surprise

This year I surprised Clint for his birthday by having him thrown out of a plane, aren't I the best?

Skydiving is something he has talked about wanting to do for a while now (and it's always been on my bucket list), so I thought his 35th birthday would be a good opportunity to take him and make it a surprise.

A few weeks before, I emailed all his friends to see if I could convince anyone to risk their lives and join us. I had two takers, Matt and Duane. As it got closer to Saturday, the nerves started to hit and the three of us exchanged emails that probably psyched us out even more. Duane was having night terrors and dreaming about free falling that kept him up at night, and we all couldn't help but look up videos of skydiving. We all agreed that Clint had it the best since he didn't even know what was coming.

All I told Clint was to be ready to leave the house at 9am on Saturday, so he really was left in the dark. We left the house and the first stop was to pick up Duane. Clint knew right away something was up. We picked up Matt from Kirkland next, and headed north up to Snohomish Skydive. As we got closer, he put it together and realized we weren't just gonna go for a nice hot air balloon ride.

As we pulled in the parking lot, Clint let me know that yes he had talked about wanting to skydive, but actually going through with it was another story. Regardless, he was excited and I could tell he was impressed with my surprise.

We sat through our 30 minute training, signed the 10 page front and back waiver (last will and testament basically), and that was it. We were ready to skydive. We went outside to get suited up and were paired with our instructor's. I would be jumping with Jesse (yes, I was Jesse's girl). Clint's instructor had a camera to take still photos of his skydiving experience, so he was able to get some good shots of all of us right up until we all jumped.

training video

learning the arch position

signing our lives away

I understand the bajillion facts above

not yet sure what we're in for

perfect day for jumping out of a plane

We all boarded the plane, and there was no turning back. The plane slowly climbed up to 13,000 feet as our instructors went over the procedure with us again. As we finally reached our altitude, I was the first to go. Thinking back, this was probably a good idea since I didn't have to watch anyone before me as they disappeared out of sight.

We scooted our way to the edge of the door, and dangled over the edge with the wind flapping on our legs. We pushed off and then we were free falling for 60 seconds. The feeling is pretty indescribable. Definitely not natural. I actually remember being a little uncomfortable. It was cold, the harness was tight, and the air is rushing up your nose and down your throat at 120 mph. But the adrenaline and being up in the clouds is pretty amazing.

The instructor pulled the chute, and I was able to relax a little bit (only a little bit though, we still weren't on solid ground). Instantly, it felt like we were just hovering in place compared to the speed we were going before. You're able to see a lot from up there...Mt. Rainier, Seattle, Mt. Baker. Plus, we couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise, so we really lucked out. Jesse then gave me control of the reins and I was able to turn us from side to side and do a few spiral turns. We could even see Clint and the other guys sailing down around us.

We finally came in for a landing, and we were all grinning from ear to ear. It really was such a rush. We got our flight suits and harnesses off, bought some souvenir tee shirts, and headed straight to the Buzz Inn for some celebratory drinks.

celebrating with shots of fireball

having lunch and watching the other
skydivers land from the Buzz Inn

A few pics (yes this is considered a few compared to the 500 he received on a disc) from Clint's instructor...

boarding the plane

laughing at ourselves...who skydives?

Duane and his instructor

Matt still looking unsure

above the clouds

scooting up to the front

I don't wanna look

there I go

Clint's face after I fell out of the plane...

there goes Duane

nice knowing you

there goes Matt

last but not least

oh crap

forgetting to breath

there you go...also notice the plane nose diving

feelin good

phew, the chute opens

steering

a little too close to Matt

so happy to be on solid ground

adrenaline rush

hugs

we all made it!

Adventures in g-free

So far my gluten-free diet has been a success. It's been 3 weeks, and no stomach issues! I'm also feeling healthier in general. I don't get sleepy after lunch at work, and just overall feel like I have more energy.

It has been difficult though. There seems to be gluten in everything! Going out to eat is a challenge, so I usually just stick with a salad. Grocery shopping can be tricky, too. I downloaded an app for my phone that scans the bar code of food and lets you know if it contains gluten. This has come in really handy. For instance, the regular canned black beans at Trader Joe's contain gluten, but not the organic kind.

For the most part, my diet has become healthier. I've been eating more veggies and fruits, lots of chicken, fish and salads, and am actually incorporating breakfast into my morning routine now. It's a strange feeling to not be starving by lunch and scarf down an entire pizza. But, I have found ways to splurge. Turns out gluten-free doesn't necessarily mean healthy. Potatoes, cheese, ice cream, bacon, Cheetos...all gluten-free. In fact, you can still eat fast food! Some of the best places are Wendy's (nearly all their salads, baked potatoes, french fries, chili, even frosties!), Chipotle (everything but the flour tortilla), Arby's and Burger King fries (but steer clear of McDonald's), and even In n' Out (they serve burgers wrapped in lettuce and the fries are safe, good news for trips down to PD).

I've even found quite a few gluten-free alternatives at the grocery store for things like flour tortillas, pasta, pizza crust, flour, beer and bread. So far I haven't found anything that compares to the real thing, and they aren't even really healthy. They are still processed foods, so they are high in both calories and fat. I think my next plan will be to try and cut out foods that are highly processed, this will also be a challenge!

gluten-free junk food

gluten free beer and pizza - just not the same

I have also found myself cooking more. I tried a couple yummy quinoa recipes. One for mini turkey meatloafs and another with black beans and corn. Both delicious and easy to bring to work for lunch.

perfect size for snacking or small meal

I've also been on a salad kick. The BLT chop still remains a favorite, as well as taco salad, yum!

never get sick of this one

Here's another fun recipe I came across for a snack, roasted chick peas. Easy to make and you can season them however you want.

And finally, I gave Trader Joe's gluten-free flour a shot (made from rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour) and made the recipe for blueberry muffins they had on the back. They turned out delicious and moist right out of the oven, but by morning they were super dry and almost impossible to eat without washing them down with water.

After my first gluten-free baking experience didn't turn out so well, I downloaded the Wheat Belly cookbook and am planning to give their baked goods a shot (tortillas, biscuits, bread, pizza dough). Hopefully they will turn out to be a hit since I think cutting back on my gluten intake will become a more permanent diet after seeing the benefits so far.