GIFTS :: If there’s one thing I love, it’s giving a good gift – big or small, for a significant occasion or no occasion at all. Actually, I think no occasion at all perfect gifts are the best kind.

And today, I bought a no occasion at all gift for 3 of my dearest friends and I am so excited with how perfect the gift is for them. I’m also ruining the surprise by writing on here about it, but let’s face it — even though these three know about this little gem of a blog of mine, even they rarely read it.

A year ago, these friends came to visit and I was a mess. A crying, puking, jobless, anxious, mess. Perhaps you remember me at this time last year? In a span of 2 weeks I threw up on a blind date, threw up with friends at our annual reunion, threw up on the side of the road, and threw up at the Portland airport. I continued to throw up sporadically for several months. I wasn’t sick. It was just one of those life slumps where everything seems unknown and scary and well, you should know this about me – my coping mechanism for these types of situations is barfing –  a very attractive quality of mine.

These same friends visited again this year and lucky for them they got to experience the non-puking version of me. However, I did notice myself trying not to have too much fun with them. Odd I know, but I miss them and I don’t want to…And you have to admit, not having too much fun is a way better coping mechanism than barfing. Yes, of course, we will always be friends, but each of our individual lives are ever changing. Our daily experiences are no longer shared and we live VERY far away from each other which I find nothing less than tragic. Yet, what our friendships have been, and are, and will become, though different from what they once were, are still precious.

So dear friends here’s a “perfect little no occasionat all gift” that I know you will each be ecstatic to receive in your respective corners of the world. Enjoy and know that you are missed.

White Ra :: Picture me, Friday evening, happy houring with my favorite co-worker(who hates it when I call him that), we finish and he asks, “ Want to meet my friend for a drink? She has a friend visiting from out of town and I promised I’d meet up with them.”

“Mmmm, not really,” I say, but then after some coaxing agreed to go along for an hour.

AND I AM SO GLAD I AGREED because neither of us could have predicted the random night that unfolded from there.

Upon meeting said friend and her out of town guest our little foursome made our way to a bar.  Several blocks away from our destination people start coming up to “out of town guest” and exclaiming, “OH! HI! OMG, Can I get a picture with you?” Before I knew it, I was taking picture after picture of “out of town guest” and every person that passed us on the side walk.

We get to the bar, sit down, and it’s the same thing all over again — rounds of drinks are being bought for our table, random people sit down with us to meet “out of town guest” or have their picture taken with him. All the while I’m thinking, “WHAT IN THE WORLD. WHO IS THIS GUY?!”

As it turns out “out of town guest” is a world class famous video game player from Ukraine. He’s REALLY good at video games. So good, that he makes a living(and a good one) playing video games and traveling to gaming conferences(which is why he was in Seattle).

Post hour of drinks, we took full advantage of the celebrity in our midst and followed him to a party hosted by one of his sponsors. It was like a scene from a movie: We were ushered to the front of the long line, told the bouncer who we were with, and were instantly given VIP passes which were good for free drinks all night, lots of dancing with video game fanatics from all over the country, and best of all allowed for hours of getting a kick out of watching gamer after gamer came up to “our friend” ecstatic to be in the presence of one of the best video game players on Planet Earth.

** He’s the one in the red jacket. He goes by White Ra. …And I’m the one pretending not to care that I’m in the presence of greatness.

The Plastic Water Bottle Project :: I’ll admit, I regularly read DIY design blogs written by super hip stay at home moms(with profitable blogs!) and make mental lists of all the things I want to make. Months ago I read THIS POST. That same day I asked my friend to save all her plastic water bottles for me so someday I’d be able to re-create the plastic water bottle chandelier.

Note: Good friends will save plastic water bottles for months for you and then one day call and say, “I have atleast 100 water bottle for you, do you want them or what!”

Truth be told, I’d forgotten I’d asked for the water bottles and upon receiving them was unsure if I still wanted to embark on the water bottle project, but I figured I couldn’t let my friend’s water bottle saving efforts go to waste. So, I made a day out of making the plastic water bottle project.

The cutting and spray painting was mindlessly therapeutic and provided hours of of time to catch up with a friend who agreed to help with the project. HOWEVER, it was also one of those projects where the whole time I was making it I was thinking “Ugh, this thing is going to be ugly. I’m just going to want to throw it away when I’m done.” AND, when I was done with it, I kind of did want to toss it. Don’t get me wrong – it was fun and cool, it just had no place in my house. That, and up close it kind of looked like a pile of neon painted trash.

The redemptive ending to this story(I’m sure you’re ready for it!) :: I happen to know the world’s greatest Montessori pre-school teacher. As it turns out, my wild and whimsical plastic water bottle creation was THE PERFECT addition to the entry way of her magical house/school where little 3 and 4 year olds will pass through into a truly magical first education experience when they begin their first day of pre-school this week. Everything, even plastic water bottle projects have their place.

Soap Lake, WA :: If you’ve never been, you should go. Consider this your invitation to meet all the Russians that live there, bathe yourself in jet black mineral mud, and perhaps even drive a little past the thriving metropolis of Soap Lake to swim in Sun Lakes and feast your eyes on the Grand Coulee Damn.

I can’t remember the last time I was so pleased with a spontaneous weekend adventure.