Happy almost-New Year! I was lucky enough to have both last week and this week off from work, which has been so relaxing. I don't think I've had a 2-week-long break since college! We spent last week visiting my mom and Patrick's family in California, and now we're back in Portland (just in time to catch the surprise snowstorm on Tuesday!), and I have been hanging around the house, doing some cooking and being lazy. A great way to end the year :)

Anyway, this seems like a good time to catch up on a few of the posts I've been meaning to write. First up: our anniversary trip to Vancouver!

A few months ago, we decided to go on a quick vacation to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. The original plan was to rent a cabin in Montana in early October (it seemed like a good place to get away and enjoy nature), but I had a huge project going on at work, so we decided to put off our trip until mid-November. And since Montana in mid-November sounded like it might be a little chilly, we decided to take a trip to Canada instead. Based on this article in Sunset, we ended up spending three nights at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort (on the Sunshine Coast) and had some time to check out Vancouver as well. Patrick planned the whole trip, and it was great!

We drove up to Vancouver from Portland on a rainy Thursday, and apart from a long wait to cross the border, it was a nice drive. This was the first time either of us had been to Canada, so it was exciting crossing the border!

We had decided to spend a night in Vancouver before going to Rockwater Secret Cove, and Patrick found us a very nice hotel downtown--L'Hermitage. After checking in, we walked down Robson Street (Vancouver's big shopping street) and had dinner at Kintaro Ramen, one of three ramen places that we wanted to try while we were in town (we ended up making it to all three, and the ramen at Kintaro was my favorite--really nice noodles).

The next morning, we needed Canadian coins for our parking meter, so we headed to a Starbucks near the hotel. Although Vancouver felt a lot like Portland, there were some small differences that reminded us we were in Canada--like when Patrick asked for his change in singles (so he could pay the meter), the barista looked confused and then asked if he wanted loonies or toonies. Anyway, we got it all sorted out, paid the meter, and headed to breakfast.

My small contribution to our vacation was finding a good place for breakfast while in Vancouver, and I chose Medina--they serve tiny waffles with all sorts of awesome sauces! We were tempted to have an all-waffle breakfast, but instead we got one waffle apiece and supplemented with healthier fare (yogurt, fruit, and granola). It was a good breakfast, and the waffles didn't disappoint. I had the milk chocolate lavender sauce with my waffle, and Patrick had the fig orange marmalade. Yum!

Before I forget--at a couple cafes in Vancouver, I noticed a drink called the London Fog--earl grey tea, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup. I didn't have a chance to try one while we were there, but it sounds like just my kind of drink! I'll have to see if I can get a coffee shop in Portland to make one.

After breakfast, we explored Stanley Park for a few hours. It was a chilly day, but it was still a nice way to spend a few hours. Vancouver is a pretty city!

For lunch, we had ramen once again, this time at Benkei Noodle Shop (Portland is ramen-deficient; we had to eat our fill while we had the chance!). This turned out to be Patrick's favorite ramen of the trip.

Bellies full, we headed across the Lions Gate Bridge and drove to Horseshoe Bay (enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way), to catch the ferry to the Sunshine Coast. This was our first time taking our car on a ferry, and it was pretty cool! The ferry was well-outfitted with a full cafeteria, and the 40-minute ride was just long enough to enjoy the scenery without getting bored.

The ferry disembarked at Langdale, and we drove along the coast to Sechelt, the town nearest to Rockwater Secret Cove. We had a fine dinner at The Old Boot and then continued on to the resort.

Rockwater Secret Cove Resort turned out to be pretty awesome. We splurged and reserved a tenthouse suite, which reminded me of the yurts at Treebones, but even nicer (in-yurt bathrooms--excellent!).

The Rockwater tenthouses had all sorts of great amenities--heated floors, super comfy beds, cute little fireplaces, and huge tubs with jets and light shows and stuff. All that luxury plunked down in the middle of beautiful natural scenery (one of the days we even saw a deer hanging out right next to the boardwalk!). It turned out to be a great place to just get away from everything and relax.

The one problem we ran into was the weather. The first night we got there, it was pretty calm, but the second night it was stormy, and the tent walls flapped around noisily all night, making it really hard to sleep. I was kind of afraid the tent would blow away, it was so loud. Since it was supposed to be stormy the next night as well, Patrick asked if they could move us to a more sheltered tent, and luckily they were able to help us out. So we moved from Tent #60 (which I'm sure would be awesome in the summertime but is a little dicey during stormy weather) to Tent #53, which had a less awesome view but was way more peaceful. Phew!

We mostly just sat around our tent and knitted/read. One of the days, we drove into Sechelt and explored a little. We managed to catch a holiday craft fair, and we visited a cute little store specializing in items made by local artists (of course I can't remember its name now, but it was on Mermaid Street next to a small European market). It turned out to be a nice little town to explore.

The restaurant at the resort was nice. We had breakfast there every morning, and we went there for a fancy dinner the second night we were there. In retrospect, it would have been good to bring some food to keep in the little in-room fridge, since the resort restaurant wasn't cheap, and our only other option was driving into Sechelt for every meal.

I'd definitely recommend Rockwater Secret Cove Resort if you want to splurge on a relaxing vacation in a beautiful setting. They also offer spa services and activities like horseback riding, but we didn't do any of that. Three days was a good length of time for us to stay--by the last day, I was feeling ready to get back into the real world!

On our way back to Portland, we stopped in Vancouver for lunch at the third ramen restaurant of interest--Motomachi Shokudo. The first two ramen restaurants we went to seemed pretty traditional; Motomachi was much hipper and experimental. It was good ramen, just not our favorite of the three. Also, Patrick lost his hat there, which was unfortunate :(

So, that was our trip to Canada! I'd like to go back to Vancouver at some point (maybe on the train) and explore downtown more. It seemed like a fun place to visit.

I love Lee's new ice cream earmuffs/headband pattern and kits! The design is great, and it's even better that she hand-dyed recycled wool to make the different flavors. We got to see them in person when she and Pete came over for Thanksgiving. Super cute!

(Photo by Lee)

So, Ladies Rock Camp! This was a fundraiser for Portland's Rock and Roll Camp for Girls. It's a 2.5-day-long camp, where women who have little to no experience with an instrument learn to play that instrument (guitar, bass, drums, or vocals), form a band, write a song, and perform it at a venue in downtown Portland. It happens twice a year, in May and October. Patrick heard about it this summer and sent me a link to the LRC webpage. I thought it sounded totally awesome, especially since the enrollment fee went to a good cause! I spent a little while choosing between vocals and drums (the thought of learning to play guitar/bass in just a few days was too scary). I ended up signing up for vocals. I figured that would be easiest, since I'd been in choir in high school. It would be like playing Rock Band, but for real!

Friday, October 23

Camp started on a Friday, with a potluck lunch. After that, we spent some time doing really quick getting-to-know-you activities so we'd have some idea of what kind of music people wanted to make. There were about 30 women there, maybe half of them from Portland, with a good-sized Seattle contingent as well. There was a pretty wide age range, including one mother-daughter pair.

Eventually it was time to form our bands, which was kind of scary. We split ourselves up based on the type of music we wanted to play. The group I initially went to had two vocalists, so I ended up standing in the middle of the room, hoping that there would be other people who had ended up without a band. Luckily, the numbers worked out, and I got matched up with Angela (guitar, from Minneapolis) and Beth (drums, from Seattle). Most of the bands also had a bass player, but there weren't quite enough to go around, and we did fine without one.

After we formed bands, we split up to go to instrument instruction, so we didn't have much time to get to know each other at that point. I headed off to vocal class, with our instructor, Teri, who was great--very supportive. The first class was spent warming up, getting to know the other vocalists (there were nine of us total), and practicing our group song (the vocalists traditionally sing a song at the Sunday morning assembly; ours was Don't You Worry About a Thing).

Following instrument instruction, we had our choice of two workshops--songwriting or sound. I went with songwriting, since I had no idea where to start. The main message I got was that you can write a really simple song with minimal lyrics, and it can still be really catchy. The teacher had volunteers go on stage and form makeshift bands, and then we all worked together to make up lyrics and write a song on the fly.

Next we had band practice, which was split into quiet practice (not actually playing the instruments) and loud practice. We had loud practice first. Beth and Angela familiarized themselves with their instruments, and I worked on writing lyrics. I wasn't really sure what I wanted our song to be about, and neither of them had a strong opinion either. I mentioned that the things I like (cooking, knitting, etc.) don't typically make good songs, but then one of them pointed out that there are some knitting terms that have double meanings, and based on that, I came up with what became our chorus and first verse. We didn't get anywhere on the melody (mostly because we were all kind of lost regarding how to get started), but it was comforting that we at least had some lyrics.

During quiet practice, the three of us walked down the street to MLK Fashion Plaza, where we bought some cheap T-shirts for screen-printing the next day. That store is something else--they had a whole assortment of gold teeth, including a full set of gold vampire teeth! Not the kind of place I typically frequent.

At some point we agreed on our band name, Three-Day Afghans. Angela had mentioned that growing up, she and a friend had decided that if they had a band, they'd call it 7-Day Afghans, based on a book her mom had (possibly this one). Beth and I didn't have any other ideas, so we went with that suggestion, modifying it to Three-Day Afghans, since that's how long ladies rock camp is. It also worked with our song's knitting theme.

We all regrouped for dinner, and then it was time to head home. At this point, I was pretty stressed out, since we had to have a song written by Sunday, and I still didn't really know how to make that happen. It would have been more fun if I'd just relaxed and had faith that things would work out, but that's not really my style :) But of course, things did work out. I should have known!

Saturday, October 24

We started out the morning with breakfast and then headed to instrument instruction again. We spent a little time practicing our group song, and then we spent the rest of the class singing alone in front of the group and having Teri give us suggestions on how to improve. Even singing in front of a group of 9 very supportive women made me nervous, but it turned out fine. And I wasn't the only one who was nervous, which made me feel a lot better.

During lunch, an alumna of Rock and Roll Camp for Girls performed, and she was really good! It's a pretty amazing program, and I'm glad girls in Portland have the opportunity to have such a confidence-boosting experience.

After lunch, we did a fun screen-printing workshop, where we got to design our band logos and print them on T-shirts and paper. Our teacher had lots of good ideas for screen-printing on the cheap, and instead of using photo-emulsion, we blocked the screens by cutting our designs out of contact paper and sticking it to the screens (similar to the Tyvek mailing envelope technique that Josh and Sarah used at their Screenprinting for Change party). I ended up designing our band logo--just a simple knitting graphic. Cutting out all those zig-zags from the contact paper took some time, but luckily there were three of us working on it.

Things really started to turn around and become more fun and less stressful at about this point. We had loud band practice after screen-printing, and we came out of it with a pretty well developed song, which was such a relief! I think the key was that we had some outside guidance. There were a few coaches going around between rehearsal rooms during practices, and we managed to get two of them--Bob and Teri--in our room near the beginning of practice. They really helped us get going.

We came up with a few chords that seemed like they might work, Bob and Angela played them on the guitar over and over again, Beth played drums, and I opened my mouth and sang my lyrics, and it worked! Teri and Bob helped tweak a few notes and gave me some advice on a few things I could do to make it more nuanced (which I promptly forgot, I'm sure), and we were suddenly on our way to having a real song, which was such a relief! We figured out the chorus first, and then the verse came pretty easily after that. Here's some iPhone audio from the beginning of the rehearsal, when we had just started working on the chorus.

* Unraveled - Early Chorus

After a few hours of practice, half of the bands had a showcase run-through on the little stage, just to get some experience being on stage and performing in front of people. It was so fun to see what the other bands had come up with! We had all gone in pretty different directions.

After dinner, there was a great karaoke party, but I was lame and headed home pretty early, because I knew I would be exhausted if I didn't. Probably the right choice, but I bet it would have been fun to stay for the whole party!

Sunday, October 25

We started out the day with breakfast, and then the vocalists performed our group song for everybody else, and then we had a hair and makeup session! I painted my nails, which I haven't done in a long time. And I let Teri give me rockstar hair (teased and sprayed with red hairspray), which was a little crazier than I would normally go with, but I guess that's the point.

We had a couple more hours of loud practice, which we spent tightening up the song and going in to watch the other bands practice. We were feeling pretty confident about our song by the end of practice. Here's an iPhone recording of the full song, right before we stopped for lunch. Considering that we put the whole song together in under 24 hours, I think we did a pretty good job!

* Unraveled - Final Rehearsal

Here are the lyrics (not an autobiographical song, by the way):

Verse 1:
Stitched our lives together / So snug at the seams
Now you push me away / I'm no longer in your dreams
Gauge your feelings for me / The fiber of your love
Are the strands frayed and slipping / Or are they plied strong enough

Chorus:
Don't cast me off / I'm a pearl in the rough
Don't throw me for a loop / You've unraveled me enough

Verse 2:
Seem a little distant / Your indifference needles me
Your comments are abrasive / Can't seem to agree
Have you strayed in your affections / Has someone got her hooks in you
Have we just grown complacent / Are you dying for something new

Originally, we had agreed that it would be more fun to do an upbeat song than a slow, sad song (it is Ladies ROCK Camp, after all), but it just kind of turned out a little slow and sad. At that point, we were just relieved to have a song, so we went with it. I think the chorus breaks it up nicely, with the harder drums and tambourine (playing tambourine is fun!).

At lunch, they set up a microphone, and everybody had a chance to go up and give shout-outs to anybody who had helped them or who they thought was awesome (it was really such a positive, supportive environment. What great women!). Clearly I had not learned my lesson from camp, as I was too shy to go up and talk (as usual), but it was really great hearing what everybody else had to say. One of the awesome guitarists even gave me a shout-out for my creative lyrics. Awww :)

Then we headed to our venue (Satyricon, where Nirvana once played!) to put on a rock show! I was dumb and didn't tell any of our Portland friends about it, even though they would have been totally supportive even if I'd messed up big time. Patrick was there though, which was nice. Here's the stage:

Rock and Roll Camp for Girls knows how to put on a show! They had a raffle, an entertaining MC, and all of the tech stuff was well organized, so we just had to show up on stage and perform (no checking sound levels or tuning or anything). They printed a program with everybody's lyrics, and it just happened to have a picture of a knitting mermaid on it (drawn by Heather McLaughlin, our screen-printing teacher), which seemed like a good sign, giving the theme of our song.

We were up third (out of eight bands), which was good, since we didn't have too long to get nervous, and then we were able to enjoy the second half of the show. We got up there, got all set up (I even remembered to adjust the mic stand to the right height), waited while a little raffle business was attended to, and then it was time to play!

Here's a blurry video Patrick took with our digital camera. There will be a professional video forthcoming at some point, though I'm not sure if it'll be online. Our song will also be on iTunes, which is just insane! Two things I would improve after seeing this video: (1) stage presence, (2) sing the right words! I guess I only flubbed the lyrics twice, which isn't so bad considering how new the song was.

Three-Day Afghans - Unraveled on Vimeo.

You can see me leaning over to high-five Teri at the end. She was up there rocking out during the whole song, which was so great :) Considering that we put this together in about 24 hours, I think we did awesome! I am so impressed that Angela was able to pick up the chords so quickly (like I said above, learning to play guitar scares me!), and check out Beth rocking on the drums during the chorus! I'm proud of my band :)

I think it was during the third chorus that I really realized that I was up there, performing a song to a club full of people. It was just a really exhilarating feeling. The experience was totally worth the initial stress. Here are a few videos of the other bands, who were all great!

* Lyte Bright - The Perfect Girl
* Vega - What Do You Give (What Do You Get?)
* Saddle Soar - Hipster Cowboy
* Dollywould - My Friend the T-Rex
* O-various Artists - Sundog Solara

So yes, Ladies Rock Camp is awesome, and you should totally go if you're a lady :) It's a great, supportive environment where you can try something new, and you get to meet all sorts of wonderful women and support a great cause.

I recently started crocheting a ripple blanket, based on Alicia's blanket. I wanted to take a few pictures to post to Ravelry, but for some reason Patches could not resist the yarn! Normally she's not that crazy about yarn, but I guess having it on the floor at kitty eye level is just too tempting. I like this cat :)

P.S. If you wanted to make a bacon scarf, this would totally be the pattern to use. When I was crocheting the pink and red rows at the beginning, it looked very bacony. Luckily, that effect has gone away since I added more colors.

Hoo boy, I've been quiet for too long! Here are a bunch of things I meant to mention at the time but never got around to writing about. Still to come: Ladies Rock Camp and our recent trip to Canada!

Back in early October, we went to Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island to check out their pumpkin patch and corn maze. We actually didn't end up going in the maze, but we walked through the pumpkin patch and ate some yummy cinnamon-sugar mini donuts (no apple cider donuts to be had, but these were nearly as good). Good times :)

Around the same time, Patrick harvested all of our remaining tomatoes from the garden, since it was getting cold. Next year, we need to thin our tomatoes so we have more ripe ones and fewer green ones!

I canned some green tomato jam (not bad, plus I got to use our food mill!) and green tomato relish (aka piccalilli, recipe from the Ball Blue Book), and I still had pounds of tomatoes left over. At that point, I was kind of overwhelmed by the number of tomatoes left, so I asked Patrick to dispose of them on the compost pile when I wasn't around (so I wouldn't have to suffer the guilt of wasting perfectly good food). That was a relief! A little later, we got green tomatoes in our CSA box, and Patrick used them in this enchilada recipe (recommended by Susan), which turned out really well. I definitely want to use this recipe again next fall.

Around the same time, I got it in my head that I needed some muffins, so I made two batches, both from Dorie Greenspan's Baking--great grains muffins and morning glory (carrot spice) muffins. Both turned out well, and they made nice mid-morning snacks spread with some cream cheese. They also both froze well, which is good, since we would have been hard pressed to eat 24 muffins before they went stale.

Back in August, I signed up for Lee's inaugural Quick Knits club shipment. It was so much fun getting my package and finding all the little surprises she had included! I knit up that month's project (a little strappy pouch) in less than a day--nearly instant gratification!

Recently I knit myself a pointy hat (from an old issue of Rebecca) using more of the bulky pink yarn that I used to make my scarflet. It was another quick knitting project--I finished it in under 24 hours. Very satisfying! (also on Ravelry)

Here's a picture of the hat in action, at one of Patrick's recent cyclocross races. Andrew was visiting us for the weekend, and we went and watched Patrick get all muddy and exhausted. I'm proud of him for trying new things! I need to make him a cool ensemble for next year's races...