New Year's Eve 2011

Happy New Year everyone!

Last night Alex and I met Yara and Dustin for an hour in downtown Portland. Downtown was packed and everyone looked fantastic! Later in the evening we headed to my good friend Kristin's house for a Vegas themed party. They had blackjack poker and roulette tables set up. Everyone was given fake money to bet with throughout the night and if you lost all your money you could sing karaoke to earn some back. Kristin is one of those hostesses that thinks of everything and pulls out all the stops. Her parties are always the best and last night was one of my favorites.

My outfit for the evening:

The midnight kiss:

 

Seattle Surprise Party

After my sibling's improvised trip to Seattle I decided to surprise my friend Ryan for his birthday. Ry is honestly the worst person to surprise. He (self-admittedly) micromanages everything, making it quite impossibly to surprise him.Over our eight year friendship I have never seen him surprised. He is always in the loop and always guesses what's going on. Remember my outing with the Browns? He was supposed to join as a surprise guest for both him and her, but he literally stalked Facebook until he figured out what was going on. I still love him quirks and all. After my sister and I decided Thursday night that we were in fact going to be in Seattle. I set the plan to have our mutual friend take Ry out for birthday drinks. The girls and I would then surprise him shortly after. We were supposed to meet them at 9:00 but 9:00 turned into 9:45. Luckily Brandyn is a pro at redirecting Ryan's attention. Inside the bar we hid behind a wall and text Brandyn to start recording. He played it off like he was texting. :) Tiffany led the way and Ryan's reaction couldn't have been more perfect. Sitting on his stool he just blinked at Tiffany then Rona then looked at me mouth open and bewildered. It was only when we all said "hi Ry" that he came to.

After Elite we headed to Purr a Capital Hill favorite. We sang, danced and rocked the night away. This text pretty much says it all:

Have you ever thrown a surprise party? How did it turn out?

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Jon McLaughin at the Doug Fir

My birthday present for Mrs. Kristen Brown was the Jon McLaughin concert last night at the Doug Fir in Portland. Side note: The Doug Fir is an awesome small concert venue, I highly recommend it if you're traveling into Portland. They are attached to the Jupiter Hotel so you can get a room for the night and walk across the way to see a show! Ok now back to the night: Kristen and I have been fans of Jon since he first entered the music world. My brother David was the one who introduced me to Jon's music. He introduces me to a lot of fantastic alternative artists/bands before they become "famous" like Gavin DeGraw, Echo Helstrom, and Paolo Nutini.Anyway, back to the concert, tangent theme? Jon plays the piano (keyboard) a harmonica and sings. His piano skills are spectacular, not many bands incorporate real piano rifts into their music it was refreshing. After the concert Kristen, her husband DJ and myself had the opportunity to meet Jon. He is such a relaxed, real, respectful and humble artist. We chatted with him for about 15 minutes and he mentioned his wife at least twice, which is something I greatly respect. It was a perfect concert experience.

The stamp we got at the door, ironically perfect. 

The stunning couple:

The Doug Fir Lounge downstairs bar. 

Mr. McLaughin:

The band:

Self imposed mirror photos of course.

DJ told us we had to go upstairs for a moment and all of the sudden the staff brought out a delicious apple crisp for Mrs. Brown. 

Meeting Jon: