Birthday Bash

I'm not big into celebrating my birthday. I hate the spotlight, and I generally stay home on my birthday, avoiding everyone. My preference is to cook a nice meal and stay in. What does Emil do this year? He takes a risk and throws me a surprise party. Side note: I don't like surprises either.

It was a lovely evening, and I enjoyed myself! Our friend, Steve, has an outdoor pizza oven. We've gone to his house in the past for pizza parties, and it's so much fun. So, Emil coordinated the party over at Steve's house. Throw in beer, kombucha, dear friends, and delicious pizza.

Oh! The day before my birthday, Emil and I went to Portland and spent the day. What a wonderful time! We had the best breakfast at Tin Shed.

Here are a few pics from the party and Portland trip:

Fresh eggs from Redmond

Ron and Carrie - the folks we housesat for in Redmond

Dessert pizza! Fresh raspberries and chocolate drizzle.

Dessert pizza! Sliced apples and cinnamon

Surprise! Red velvet cupcakes.

Wanda and I working on our pizzas.

Tin Shed: Sweetened coconut milk and jasmine rice, potato cakes

Tin Shed: Egg scramble, cheese grits, and a biscuit 

Emil and I

Busy Busy Busy

Can you tell I've been non-stop busy since December? Sigh.

Life has been hectic since then. I could tell you what's been going on, but you wouldn't believe it. More importantly, I've survived. Everyone survived. And, I'm looking forward to a little time off this summer. There are so many things I want to do. Can you believe we've never been to Crater Lake? Yet, my parents have been there twice. I accused my dad of just taking a picture of a postcard and sending it to me. It can't really be that beautiful, can it? Guess we'll find out this summer. There are festivals to attend, parades to watch, hikes, floating the river, and more.

I'll finish working at Mt. Bachelor at the end of May. A brief break, then I start up again there in September. Catering has started, and I just finished my second gig. Yep, carpel tunnel and tendonitis are still present. Sigh. I would give it up, but I love cooking and food way too much. Annie's pork chili verde knocked me off the vegetarian wagon. It's THAT GOOD.

Let's see ... what else? Lent is over. I dived into a box of donuts and a bag of chips all at breakfast on Easter. Do you doubt me? See pic below for proof. Peeps on top of donuts. So CUTE!!

Amazing donuts at Sweetheart Donuts. Fantastic owners!

Emil is absolutely buried in woodworking and website projects. If I'm lucky, I see him creep to the kitchen for a bowl of salted caramel gelato for sustenance.

Guess Yam and I better start packing for a trip to Crater Lake. Hope he can keep up with me! Gotta get off that winter weight! He's excited to go. See pic below for proof.

I'll try to update more often! Thanks for not giving up on me!

Book Signing

Last Wednesday, I hosted a book signing for my second novel, After We Met. It was fun, full of my friends, and relaxing. No stress this time around, thanks to Bluebird Coffee Company. They suggested an interactive event with a short Q & A session and a couple of short readings.

Here are a few pics from the event:

Local author, Meg Gray, stopped by. Check out her books!
http://www.megcgray.com/

My book signing station.

Food from Bluebird and Annie, the chef I work for part-time.

Yum!

Emil made this poster for me.

A gift from dear friends, Karen and John O'Donnell

Need to order a book? Here are a couple of links:

Amazon
Sara Rishforth Website

Stay tuned to the latest news and like my page on Facebook.
Facebook Page

Thanks for your support!

Sunny California

For Emil's birthday in September, I bought him tickets to see The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. The closest location to see them was Arcata, CA, so I've been saving money ever since to fund our quick trip there. The concert was this past Wednesday evening at Humboldt State University. What a fantastic concert and two day vacation (18 hours in the car).

Here's a youtube video of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKpzCCuHDVY

A few pics:

Nice sign

Pizza in Medford. The place is just like the one in Alaska.

Best toppings and crust ever

The ocean!

One of these people is Paul Bunyan

Huge geese following us around

The gorgeous coast

The concert

Our friends, Marlys and Dale, came to the concert as well. We gushed about the music, warm weather, and more during intermission.

So glad we were able to go. Finances are tight, so we are being quite frugal. It gave us something to look forward to all these months!

Uke on!

Christmas Fun

I've been slammed with fun, work, and time with friends. How about y'all? 'Tis the season, so I was ready.

My Christmas shopping was done fairly early in November. I only had to pick up a few gifts in December. Every year, I have one gift I'm super excited to give someone in my family. This year, I bought my brother, Ted, the perfect t-shirt. It was a tree, shaped like a guitar head. It also said Bend, Oregon on it. He loved visiting Bend this summer, so I knew he would like the shirt.

Our tradition is spending Christmas Eve with neighbors and catching up with them, laughing, and eating delicious food. The food theme this year was Mexican, and the neighbors asked me to bring flan. I've never made flan before. Both turned out fairly well ... traditional creme caramel and coconut.

We worked on Christmas, but enjoyed a special meal once we got home and cleaned up. Fried rice and potstickers. One of our favorite meals. Way better than take-out! Plus, we were blessed with many wonderful gifts from my family and our friends.

Here's a pic of Yam with a few of our gifts:

Now it's time to think about resolutions and goals. I generally don't make resolutions, but my friend, Tom, keeps nudging me to do it. My first goal is to learn picking on the ukulele. A few uke friends and I are working on this song right now.

Banks of Ohio

I'll work on some other goals and keep you posted. Happy New Year!!

After We Met

Hooray! After We Met is the sequel to Adventures in Dating, and it's available for sale. The publishing process was a little easier this time around, and I'm thankful for my friends and family for their support. I had different beta readers this time, and they gave great feedback, especially my mother. She didn't hold back. I did change a few items she mentioned. We also laughed a lot regarding my inexperience with babies and delivery.

I teased Emil and said if I write a third book, the main character is getting a divorce and moving back to Charleston. I'm not into always writing a happy ending. My books are nothing like my real life, right?

Here are links to purchasing my book:

Amazon Link

My website - for an autographed copy

There's also a Kindle version available on Amazon.

I'll schedule a book signing in January once I have books in hand and a clear mind. If you like my book, please consider telling a friend about it. That's the highest compliment for a writer!

BIG News!

Caught your eye right?

Here's my big news:

1. My aunt and uncle are coming to house-sit for two months this winter. I can't wait to show (drag) them around Bend. Tubing at Mt.Bachelor, snow-shoeing, hiking, downtown, good restaurants, and more. It's been awhile since I've seen them, so it will be good to catch up. Plus, they play euchre!

2. My sequel is in the home stretch. I hope to publish soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks for your support!

Incredible Support

My heartfelt thanks to my mother for her support on everything I do. In particular, her edits to the sequel book I'm working on right now. Like the first book, she is brutal with edits and completely honest. It's what I need from someone reading my book. She told me yesterday, "I can be honest with you because I'm not afraid of you." Ha!

I've laughed so much with her these past few weeks. She gives the best critique. Most of the time, I listen to her edits and comments. There are only a few of them I disregard. But, I tell her, so she won't be surprised with the final cut of the book.

My character is really into food and lattes. Just like me in real life. I dream about lattes and wake up thinking about a latte. In fact, I think this dreary weather calls for a latte run. I do deserve it because I'm going to work on my book this morning. All the food and lattes in the book drives Mother crazy!

The sequel will hopefully be published by the holidays. I received three great cover concepts from the graphic designer. Everything is rolling along.

Here's a throwback Thursday pic of Mother and I in Denali National Park.

Pumpkin Patch Adventures

I love pumpkin season! Especially baking with pumpkin. I've paced myself so far and only made one pumpkin recipe. There's plenty of time left to bake this season.

A group of friends and I went to my favorite pumpkin patch on Friday. Blue skies, hundreds of pumpkins, and the search for the favorite pumpkin was on!

Smith Rock in the background

This is the most picked over part of the patch. Imagine that!

Corn maze. Easy part was one mile, hard part was four miles. Kathleen and I did both!

View of the maze from a platform.

Time to try out some new pumpkin recipes! Trader Joe's has the best canned pumpkin. Stock up!

The Sequel

Wahooey! The draft sequel to Adventures in Dating is written. Soon, it will be in the hands of my trusted beta readers. They promise to be brutal and give any and all criticism.

My mother is the best beta reader ever. Chick Lit is not her preferred genre, but she's my biggest supporter. Not only does she give back excellent feedback, but she's always there to bounce ideas back and forth. For example, I sent her the sequel cover concepts. She had a totally different perspective on them and made me feel better. She also told me what I want in a cover even though I wasn't even sure what I wanted!

My goal is to publish the sequel by the holidays. Everything is rolling along so far, and I'm enjoying the process this time around so much more. Thanks to everyone for their support! Stay posted for book release info!

Getting Older

It seems like once I turned forty, my health started slowly declining. Or rather, it takes longer to heal. When I fell skiing in February, I tore my meniscus and sprained my ACL. I'm still recovering from it. Probably because once the PT signed off on my recovery, I started running again and overdid it. But still...

Now, I have an inflamed arm and hand, tennis elbow, and carpal tunnel. Wham! All at once, and it's not fun at all. Here are the two really pain-in-the-butt inconveniences:

1. No ukulele. For months, I've practiced a song for open mic, which occurs next month. I could probably play the song, but then spend the rest of the evening massaging my hurting hand and arm. Is it worth the pain? Maybe.

2. Interrupted sleep. The pain in my arm and hand wakes me up every night. Then, I spend an hour trying to fall asleep again. Argghh. I love sleeping. It's one of my favorite hobbies.

I'm also editing the sequel to my book. Typing doesn't help my hand heal. So, I guess I'll have to find something else to do while I heal.

Any suggestions? Harass Yam the cat? Watch TV?

Song Camp and Sisters Folk Festival

Song Camp is my favorite catering gig of the year. This year was even better because my friend, Lori, came down from Alaska to work with me. She brought her awesome enthusiasm and inspired me to stay up late and go big.

What do I mean? Well, it's hard work. Every night after dinner, I just want to take off my shoes and lay in bed. I'm always on breakfast duty, so I need my rest. But, each night after dinner, it's open mic. So, Lori and I cheered everyone on at open mic until late. You can never tell what someone will sound like until they get up and sing. I love being blown away by their performances.

If you haven't heard of Song Camp, let me tell you about it. Musicians come and mentor camp attendees for a week in songwriting, stage presence, technology, and more. It's ah-mazing. We feed them good food all week. The saying is "the music is great at food camp." This year, there were 150 folks, gorgeous weather, and sleep deficit all around.

https://www.sistersfolkfestival.org/americana-song-academy/

We receive a free pass to the Sisters Folk Festival. In the past, I generally make it there one day, but I'm too tired to go all three days. This year, I went two days. All day. In fact, we didn't get home until 1 a.m. both nights. See what I mean about going big?

I encourage you to check out the festival line up. There are a few pics below, but I didn't see everyone. https://www.sistersfolkfestival.org/

Blue Lake.

Snake!

Lunch buffet

Steve Poltz. I love him. I love him. I love him.

Whipped cream for gingerbread.

Kitchen serenade

Natasha and Lori. Time to jump in. One of the coldest lakes in OR.

Benjy and Will

Me!

Head down.

Nice reflection! I dove/jumped in four times.

Grammy-nominated Eric Bibb

The Hot Nut Riveters

Anna Tivel

Shakey Graves. I love him. I love him. I love him.

Barnaby Bright

Heather Maloney and Darlingside

My three favorite sets:
1. Steve Poltz
2. Shakey Graves
3. Darlingside
3. Eric Bibb

Tie between Darlingside and Eric Bibb. If you have a moment, check them all out. Everyone is on tour right now, so they may come to your hometown.

I'm exhausted. Beyond exhausted, yet totally hyper. I want to sleep, but I can't. Still high from this week's work, fun, and excitement.

Gotta go! Just bought some of their music, so I need to hit play and dance!