From the Vault: Smelly Vacation Shoes

I had the great fortune of traveling to Italy last May with some friends (go Ugly Mugs!).

[I must preface this story with the admission that I am a notorious under-packer. I travel quite a bit and yet I never bring enough clothes/shoes/toiletries. It's not like I under pack because I'm trying to consolidate. Nope. I just always think I have enough of everything but time and time again I prove myself wrong. Anyway, back to the show.]

I brought three pairs of shoes to Europe: sneakers, sandals and flats. A pretty good mix, right? Unfortunately, my sneakers had a run-in with a rainy Roman day (and while very beautiful, Rome is not the cleanest city in the world). Do you know what happens when you walk around for eight hours in wet shoes? They begin to stink. I tried to dry them with a hilariously shaped hairdryer (see photo). I tried to air them out at night. I even gave them a break and wore my other shoes, but they basically smelled the entire trip. (Thanks to my travel companions for not complaining!)

Lesson learned: do not jump in puddles on vacation when your backup shoe collection is limited in both function and style.

While I was most definitely living the dream in Italy, my shoes, however, were not.

(Thanks for the pic, Laura!)

What Were You Doing on Inauguration Day?

I can tell you what I wasn't doing yesterday: watching the effing Inauguration. I guess that's the downside of living on the West coast/having a job. (Seems like a small price to pay for the latter.)

I can tell you I *did* do yesterday: hit a car.

I am almost living the dream.

When Singer/Songwriters Can't Sing or Write

I went to Jimmy Mak's tonight, a Portland music hot spot. My friend Court and I weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into, but we were up for a night of new tunage. All in all, it was really fun, but I wasn't super impressed with the headliner. While he totally rocked the piano, his voice and lyrics were subpar. (I feel like my iTune's extensive library of singer/songwriters qualifies me as a legitimate critic of this genre.)

Consider these lyrics: "Reach out for me. Reach out for me. If you do, I'll reach out for you." Ummm... did this guy just find a fancy way to describe a hug?

I hate to say it, but this guy is almost livin' the dream.

Inaugural Post

Much like Obama, January is a big month for me. While he moved into the White House this week, I moved into Blogger.

What can I say? Just livin' the dream.