don't go chasing waterfalls

andrew and i went to Multnomah Falls today... an amazingly large and majestic waterfall. we hiked up the icy trail tot the bridge that is right in front of the waterfall. we got drenched.

and i slapped andrew in front of people.

it was a grand time, we played in the snow, throwing snowballs, you know? i kept firing them at him and hitting him and he kept missing me. ;) you know? like it was so cold... you know?

Merry Christmas Eve GingerPeople

yes. tonight michelle and i made gingerbread people, men and women, children and donkeys, cats and sheep, yup and i even made a baby jesus. i ate him. he was yum.

i kinda combined two recipes.

it's weird but i'm starting to not like chocolate as much as i always have. i got my favorite icecream and found out it's not my favorite anymore. hmm. i was pretty surprised, it's been my fav for so long.

well here is a visual for ya'll. we made more than this but, here is our ginger-family. especially made thinking of our other roomie Amanda who is not with us but with her very tall family. notice that the ginger-husband is ginger shorter than the ginger wife :) hah. i love you amanda, and there IS a man out there taller than you! i'm gonna find him!


he may be shorter but he's so muscle-ly. we didn't forget the kitty too, see? 4 chillen. 2 boys, 2 girls. your dream family, with little Ella jr.

Merry Christmas

Camellia Christmas

Corr and I played at the Camellia Lounge in the Pearl last night, and it was so gooood. Breanna and Justin performed before us and their voices were like a heaven cream soup. Blended so wonderfully and goes down the pipe with ease. Beautiful.

it was one of those shows where it just feels... good, to be in the moment, there with my whole self and mind and it just feels so... warm.

i loved playing "what child is this" with her on the flute and i on banjo. uh.

i had the northern italian panini with bacon, it's a vegetarian sandwhich loaded with wonderful foods like tomato, artichoke hearts, and onion, and other yum vegetables. and then, i go and add bacon. i dont' know, it's the only time i ever eat it really. and it's yum. with a cranberry vodka cocktail, mmm. that place is awesome because they feed their artists and give a percentage of the bar tab which is a lot more than a lot of places do for their entertainment/enrichment for the night.

we spent the night at a friends house and cuddled with Ferggy, their 15lb kitty who's not fat at all. oh, and Orlando Bloom.

His face was on a pillow. nice pillow it was. but sorry Orlando, you're just not my type.

sun down again

i keep biting my lip in the same spot. ouch.

sometimes when i see the sun go down, i think, well Valeri you've wasted another day of your life, what are you doing??

good morning!

remember i said it was snowing, and it kept snowing and over night we got about 4-6 inches! it's beautiful, still freezing.

We're listening to classic christmas music as i even type right now... you know, the goods, Bing Crosby, Dean oh Dean, and other famous voices.

here's our back yard


i think i like the snow more so because it won't last all winter... i don't know if i could handle snow all the time. all my shoes have holes in them. well, i do love looking at it! from my warm and cozy living room.


hi Correen. as far as i know, you are the only person to read this stupid blog blog blog. i don't really know why i do this.

i've always preferred to keep my thoughts to myself, i suppose that's why i only tell of little things that happen. like snow. there are a select few whom i divulge my secret thoughts to. yes, i used the word divulge, i'm surprised as well.

i hope the weather is better for driving by friday because i really want to play my last christmas show in Portland at the Camellia Lounge.

it should be nice, just me on my guitar/banjo/piano and Correen on the piano/toy piano/flute and maybe Jon on the trumpet and a little saxophone by Noah.

I see BLUE SKY!

snowing snowing snowing ok.

it's snowing!

we just went for a walk in the freshly fallen snow, and it was so light outside for being nighttime. the snow really reflects all the light and it felt like a dream. a very chilly beautiful dream.

we decorated our tree too, after we had cut it down ourselves and this time it wasn't my butt crack that showed while cutting the tree down.

jackson youth center funds raiser

i did the finishing touches today on the paintings I'll be submitting this friday to sell and help raise money for the jackson youth center in Corvallis OR! I can't wait, a few good bands/artists will be playing their music whilst people mingle and silently bid on whatever piece of art they want to take home.

I'm not performing and i'm kinda looking forward to that.

here's a couple pics of what i've done





you remember that face from before that i started? well here it is:





this is a Maiko (Geisha in Training)
I was inspired to paint her because the other night I was talking to a very cute japanese girl by the name of Miyu. She's heading back to Japan in a few days, she was living here going to school for a semester, here we are at my favorite local coffee shop


and of course I'll be selling those beanies.

then saturday I have the special christmas concert, i'll be debuting the christmas song i wrote at 9pm sharp after Ezra Carey performs. i like his music, you should definitely check it out, it's not normal. in a very good way.

www.myspace.com/ezracareymusic

goodnight.
ezra carey

ok that's all for now, there's one more piece of artwork i'll be showing, but not selling. show ya tomorrow. goodnight.

they put christmas lights up at my favorite coffee shop. the bean. this was at the monroe shop. i like white christmas lights.

i forgot to tell you

it's quite funny...

you know when a girl wears a skirt with tights and she goes to the bathroom and while pulling up the tights tucks the skirt into them without knowing it and then walks out of the bathroom unsuspecting of anything mortifying?

well that was me. TWICE.

the first time my mom caught me and i laughed.

the second time, it was at the portland airport. i realized it right when i got oustide the bathroom and fixed it quick BUT when i turned around there was a guy smiling and chuckling so i just shrugged my shoulders to him and laughed. again.

well well ok.
i'm back in OR now. in Portland.
at the camellia lounge, i usually stop by here when i'm in town.
i just got in on a flight from LAX. why can't we be in two places at once? no matter i'll be back down there in a month. geez.

i took some pictures of a couple beanies i made, and one with Selah a dog. our baby.
i made a bunch of beanies to sell at the art/music show we're having in a couple of weeks to raise money for a kid's program in town. I made around 8 this week.




It was my birthday last week, on tuesday, and my mom got me polaroid film!!! and a couple other friends are getting me more, which means a lot to me cause they don't make it anymore. thanks guys, love you!