An announcement from our staff meeting this week:

"We've been able to move some funds around for next year and increase Kate's position to full-time."

 

Translation: More money, but now I have to work on Mondays (unless it's a holiday).

 

All in all, I'm excited and relieved.  It will make it a lot easier for us to get a dog this summer and save up for a down payment on a house.

I just had the best weekend in Portland!  Ella and I did some serious shopping at Washington Square on Saturday before having an absolutely amazing dinner at Andina.  (Oh my god, I can't even tell you how wonderful it was.  There are no words.)  On Sunday, I got to spend some time birthday shopping with my mom and Andy before having dinner with my Auntie and Uncle.  Then I did some MORE shopping on Monday before heading back to Seattle.

 

I now have my very first top from Anthropologie, lots of summer tanks and tees, and two more skirts.  I also got some good travel stuff for the trip to Paris.  Oh, and stuff for makin' puppets.

 

The only bummer is that I'm sick and lost my voice Sunday night.  It still isn't quite back to normal.  Weirdest cold ever.

 

Very tired.  Will go to bed early tonight.

LA was lots of fun.  Darren and Kerry were fantastic tour guides - we saw a ton.  My favorite spots were The Smokehouse (one of George Clooney's favorite restaurants in Studio City), Pink's (the hot dogs of the rich and famous), and the J Paul Getty Center/Museum.  Oh, and the Santa Monica Pier.  We also managed to do some karaoke and just generally hang out.

 

A day or so after we got back, I managed to cut my finger with our santoku knife.  Onions are slippery.  Usually, no big deal; but this was not a nick.  I was very worried that I'd have to get stitches...and I HATE hospitals, needles, and the whole thing.  Luckily, it's much better now, but I had to wear a splint on it for a while.  Crisis averted.

 

School is drawing to a close, which means that I am frantically trying to wrap up my drama curriculum.  This school year will be over before I know it - and then we'll be off to PARIS!!!