Ladies wine tasting, hay! New hair, thanks Jaimee! Trying to feed Kristofer enough...Vincent style eggplant puttanesca with veggies from our garden! Minions busy in the dungeon, Rosebud costumes underway... Brunch with Josh's buddies who came down from Seattle for the Panda Bear show. Final moments with my fur covered bff. Brother with his new Swedish bff. We sent Kristofer out to join the bachelor party and sip from the boot so Shola and I could slave away over more sequined dresses in peace. photos by brother and Kristofer
Today marks the one month anniversary of arrival in Amsterdam! So here's a little glimpse at the final moments in Portland. Kristofer was visiting during my last week, as his motorcycle tour of the states put him in Portland immediately prior to Eurodeparture. He managed to make himself useful though by slaving in the sewing lab and showing solidarity on late nights. Brother also should be acknowledged for generously chauffeuring our wine tasting adventure. Thanks guys!
So this Saturday, four of us Rosebuds journeyed back to Fort Lewis in a mom van with our event organizers to sign posters for the crowd waiting to meet...Mario Lopez! Remember "Saved by the Bell" guys? I sure do. Anyway, we got to present him with a Winterhawks jersey (somehow that ended up being my job?!?) signed by the dance team, sample Celsius energy beverage, take pictures with tons of kids waiting with their moms to meet him, explain dancing on ice to curious shoppers and eat pizza dipped in ranch dressing at the Military mall! 'MMMERICA!
About half of us Rosebuds had the privilege of touring Fort Lewis and other military bases in the immediate area last weekend. It was really kind of my ideal trip; getting out of town, learning new things, hearing crazy (and really sad) stories, and developing a new perspective about something I'd previously only seen in movies or read about in books.
We visited a lot of people and did a lot of things but this was hands-down my favorite. The obstacle course with the Marines. Even though they flew through these things and we sort of flailed and slithered, I still felt like a total badass. Since it was damp and rainy, only four of the ten of us volunteered to grapple about on wet logs and bars, but I think we all did a pretty good job! My arms and chest were sore for days afterward and I couldn't stop talking about it. They demonstrated the whole deal before we tested our strength. "So you can college-boy it" says Marine closest to the camera as he inverts and flips gracefully over the bar... "Or you can chicken-wing it," he follows up, which we are demonstrating here. (I'm the hooded creeper farthest from the camera)...grab the bar, walk your feet up the pole and awkwardly flip around like you're a carcass on a rotisserie spit. "You can make it!" or "What the crap are you doing?" I was so pumped up and trying to do a good job that I don't even remember him there. The first time I tried to make it over this wall it was tough going, but after we were all done I tried again when no one was looking and popped up there no prob. Okay...either way I didn't look as suave as my boyfriend Sgt. Blondie there to the left, but that's why they're Marines and we're dancers. Regardless of what weak little slugs we looked like compared to these lithe jarheads, we still felt pretty proud of ourselves for making it through. I didn't even regret the damp van ride home.
Here's the whole thing in live action too! Oh yeah, and they even let us hold their guns! They were so nice to us. Having one on one interaction with some of these guys and hearing their crazy stories really changed my perspective about the military. It blew my mind to think the guy who's standing to my left or is kindly ensuring we don't smash our heads open on a rainy obstacle course has seen friends blown up in front of him, or seen someone who was trying to end his life stabbed to death inches from his own body. And is being told to go BACK to do it all over again. May the force be with you friends, and may this country choose it's battles wisely...
I know sometimes you might wonder to yourself, "what the crap could Caitlin possibly be doing besides blogging and posting new dresses on Etsy? WHERE ARE THE NEW DRESSES? It's been SOOOO LONG!" I know friends, I know. Sometimes it take me a while to get my newest stuff photographed and into the shop. Aside from teaching important things like dancing and German to children, I will share with you a little peek at an example of what I might be up to instead, where all those new dresses are going...thanks to Kelly and Steve for putting these clips together!
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