Cali !

Today I crossed the state-line between Oregon and California.

I entered into my 18th state.

Sunny California my a**, lol! 

It's been a gloomy and grey, rainy day, but we've had a lot of fun! We've been driving for about 8 hours today, and tomorrow we're driving another 6,5 hours. But it'll be worth it. Because tomorrow I will finally get to cross a bridge I've dreamed of crossing ever since I can remember. The Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco awaits!!

Here's more pics from today:

I'm a good Zombie :)

Half of my trip is over. 

I haven't slept in 6 weeks, and I won't sleep in another 6 weeks. I'll sleep when I go back to Finland. You know how you get so tired at some point and everything just starts being funny? And how after that comes the stupid-mode, when you don't know which way is up and which way is down? I've been there. And now I'm in the third phase. 

The zombie phase. 

And at the same time, I'm ridiculously happy :)

This weekend I got to explore Washington State.

Just so you won't be bored with all the nature pics!

Deception Pass

I love how there's drift wood at the beaches in Washington. 

Back to rainy Portland :)

I also got to do some driving for the first time since I arrived here! I love to drive. I drove us up to Olympia from Portland, and later on back to Olympia from Whidbey Island. When we passed Seattle, it was dark and raining, but we had a clear view of the city's beautiful silhouette. I felt like I was on top of the world <3

Hope you all had a great weekend, and all of you here at the Pacific Northwest, don't let the rain bother you :) I was soaking wet when I got home today. I hope my shoes are dry tomorrow!

1/3 of this trip is over...

First of all, millions of apologies for not blogging in a week. I think it's my record. A shameful one. When I started blogging, I didn't blog as much, but now that I have more readers and I've really got the hang of it, I feel really bad not blogging :( sorry! 

I thought that after coming to the States I would blog more. But I'm busy. All-the-time. I'm working Tuesdays through Fridays from 9.30am - 4.30pm. Tuesdays I've got other plans after work (every Tuesday), Wednesdays I'm either at home, relaxing after Tuesday or off somewhere else. Thursdays the same thing. Fridays too. Sometimes home, but usually not. And I'm always on the move during the weekends. Mondays are my easy days, and even they are not always easy. Oh well... I'm enjoying every little bit of it :) All of it. I love it here more than you could ever comprehend. It kills me every day a little to think about returning back to Finland, because I feel like my heart does not belong there. 

Before I get too mushy, I want to share this weekend with you. 

Multnomah Falls in Oregon. This picture looks like a screen saver, or something google gives you when you search for "fairytale sceneries" or something. But I'm proud to say that I snapped this picture. It was such a beautiful place! <3

Oh... I bought shoes today. 

And I love them!

You like? Me loves.

Tomorrow I'm going to the store-that-should-not-be-named.

What I did on the weekend? Well...

I will, no worries.

I used the main door, shoot...

Dipped my feet into the Pacific Ocean <3

Labor Day

Today's my last day of rest and tomorrow I'll start working! :) I'm still tired; woke up this morning at 6 and around 9am I started feeling tired again. I took a half-hour nap and after 10am me and my room mate headed out to check out the route to work. I was surprised at how easy it is to get there! Google Maps lied to me, dammit... 

Mt. Hood is so beautiful!! I love the fact that I get to see it every day :))

I'd never been to Red Robin before, I liked it a lot! Yummy :P

Hope you're all having a great day! :) 

I'm here, safe and sound :)

I am so jet lagged you wouldn't believe. 

But I made it here! And I have to say, that the first impression of Portland is wonderful. It's such a laid-back city and it reflects out of everything and everyone. Gotta love it!

The flight was incredibly boring and long, but it went fine. I survived. 

I seriously don't have the energy to write anymore, so here are photos to tell you about my first day here!

We howled at the moon hoping no one would howl back

One of my best friends visited me last night. We wanted to watch a scary movie, and landed on Scream. I know... not exactly a scary one unless you're twelve, but still. After the movie we went swimming. It was already midnight, and now that it's starting to get dark at night again, we were kinda jumpy. But it was perfect!

Last night no one else had thought of a night swim, so it was just the two of us. We walked at the end of the pier. It was silent and peaceful, and not completely dark because of the beautiful moon! But dark enough for us to be a little scared of being butchered by a psycho hiding in the woods. 

I hadn't gone swimming yet this year. The last time was last summer in Ocean City, MD. I had to try the water first with my toes, but that's all I did before me and my friend took each other's hands and jumped right in, with our clothes on. 

Hands down, one of the best nights this summer so far. With all its simplicity, we had a great time :)

Today another good friend of mine is coming over for a movie marathon. 

Or, to be more exact, scary movie marathon. 

No late night swims tonight! 

xxo

....yet another one ! :)

As if Facebook, Twitter and Blogger aren't enough... I've found a new love in my life. 

Instagram.

You can find me under the username iiris89. So far I've got 5 followers, feel free to join them! :)

Snapped this shot today:

With the rainy weather in Finland lately, rainbows are almost an everyday occurrence. Beautiful, don't you think? <3

Z is for ZOO

The last time I went to a zoo was four years ago in Washington D.C. I spent the day with a close friend of mine and her kids. It was a scorching day, and those of you who have been to the zoo in D.C, you know it's all hill. If I recall right, it was downhill going there and uphill when leaving. And it was pain. I was so jealous of the Segways the zoo-employees got to use to get around. But, regardless of the heat, we had a nice day. I'd forgotten how nice zoos are. I rarely visit them. I doubt I'll have the chance to visit one anymore this year (unless... I think there's one in Portland), but maybe next summer :)

And... this is it for the Alphabet-posts. In Finnish language there are actually three alphabets more (Åå, Ää, Öö), but still.. this is it. Any ideas for a next project?

The day when the thunder storm didn't come

My day off was supposed to be rainy and stormy. 

Everyone's kinda pissed, because the promised thunder storm never came. It might storm later at night, but still. Finns are crazy, we look forward to a good storm. 

Well, it was promising for a while, hot and humid. +28°C/82°F. 

We decided to go to the harbor. 

I love the old fashioned lemonade bottles!

The harbor is my favorite place in my hometown. It's very beautiful. I don't live in the coast, but Finland's filled with lakes. 

Tomorrow I have to go to work for a little while, and then I have two more days off. Life's tough :)

Btw, I ended up on Twitter! Ask for my username if you're interested :)

Back to the Boat Rocks

Heidi and I grew up next door to each other and after all these years, after moving away from home, after moving to different cities, we're still friends. Today we decided to go check out some places, where we spent most of our childhood. 

We decided that if we ever have kids, they're going to have to play outside like we did, instead of spending all their time at the computer. 

What's a picnic without treats? :)

You can see why they're called boat rocks :)

S is for SUMMER

It's here. It's been here for a while now. And I love it. Well, parts of it :) I don't love the heat, which is actually a good thing, because here in Finland we rarely get hot weather (the last couple of summers are an exception). I'm hoping this summer will be mild. 70 and sunny would make me happy. 

Today I had a day off. Bliss. In the evening I went to the movies with a few friends. 

The movie was weird to say the very least... I'm not completely sure if it was worth to pay for. 

Time to bring out the summer dresses!

Strawberry milkshake <3

I love it when it's light outside at 11pm

Have a happy summer of 2012 :) 

-I

P.S Pictures of the graduation cakes coming up soon! I was stupid enough to forget my own camera at home, so now I have to wait until I get my hands on my mother's cam.