Floral spandex & wedgies | Anderson sisters circa 1996

Amen.

radcraftbeer:

photo courtesy Sho Ito

Wise words.

Shane and I made a pact last weekend that if we’re not settled down by age 40 and 45, we’ll buy a big house in New Orleans and fill it with middle-aged hippies. Mint juleps in hand and clad in colorful muumuus, we’ll people watch from the porch swing.

You know you’re in your funky 20s when your mantel is decorated with a framed poster you found at Goodwill, a disco ball, a Rogue Brewery tasting tray your roommate masterfully swiped, a plastic princess tiara and a foam sword the same roommate was knighted with for winning Cheesebration 2012. All hail the Cheese Empress!

“Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers, the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back… with wonder.”  

-The Wonder Years

I was the brand-new reporter, she was the teenage sweetheart and I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to Sandy. That was a year ago today, and I can’t stop thinking of our meeting.

I bought her an iced coffee and interviewed her about a photojournalism contest she’d won. We talked about dreams and small-town memories, about her faith and involvement in Girl Scouts.

I was heartbroken in January to hear she’d been killed in a snowboarding accident, and I will always feel honored to have spent an afternoon with Taylur DeWolf. Rest in Peace, sweet girl. 

Birdy’s “People Help the People” breaks my heart in the most beautiful way possible. It makes me want to embrace humanity in all its pain and imperfection. People, help the people, and if you’re homesick, give me your hand and I’ll hold it.

My dancing queen soul sista and Portland adventurer in crime. Cheesebration (plus vino & cerveza) 2012.

alanaandthesong:

There were no glasses