Bastille Day!

I am so excited that Lodekka gets to participate in the Pix Bastille Day Block Party - by default! Little did I know that when I parked the bus on the empty lot on Williams that I would be smack dab in the middle of the action. According to my customers' accounts, this event gets CRAZY. Champagne, confetti, sugar, loud music and LOTS of people. Sounds simply magnifique!

Below is the invitation from Pix:

To celebrate the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 which spurred the French Revolution (and to have a little fun at the same time) Pix is holding a day/night long block party in front of its North Williams location. Come for live mus...ic, a wine drinking 5K, Champagne sabering demo, grape stomping and more.

In addition to the fun and games we are supporting the Oregon Food Bank. This is a FREE community event but in exchange... we ask that each attendee bring 2 or more non perishable food items. For each item donated guests will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of 100 gift certificates to Portland's best restaurants. The more items you bring the more chances you have to win and the more mouths we can feed.

Just in case you get hungry or thirsty at the party, don't worry! In addition to our daily offerings of tasty French pastries, partake in the Champagne & Oyster Bar, a 60# Carlton Farms roasted pig, Lompoc beer garden and more!

Without further adieu, I introduce to you the 2010 Pix Bastille Day Celebration Block Party! (throw confetti now)

3:00 Live Music: Sam Humans and the Light
AND
Mini Médoc Marathon Fun Run
AND
TOUR DE PORTLAND BICYCLE SCAVENGER HUNT

4:30 LIVE MUSIC: Yeah Great Fine
5:15 LEARN TO SABER!
5:30 LIVE MUSIC: Pigeons
6:15 GRAPE STOMP
6:30 LIVE MUSIC: Cloudy October
7:30 LIVE MUSIC: Guidance Counselor
8:30 LIVE MUSIC: Cool Nutz and DJ Fatboy
9:30 LIVE MUSIC: Deelay Ceelay
10:30 DANCE PARTY with DJ Erick Beats


THE BUS WILL OPEN AT 2PM INSTEAD OF 11AM FOR THE BLOCK PARTY.

Reminiscing

In typical Fourth of July fashion, I worked in the yard today with my boyfriend and his mom, Sharon. In preparation, I looked through my bin of grubby clothes for an outfit that could endure the heat, dirt, weeds and other yard debris that I was about to immerse myself in.

When I cracked open that bin, a flood of memories of working on my bus came rushing back. The first shirt I pulled out was covered in the pink paint I used on the interior of the bus and the pants had brown and cream streaks of paint from the exterior. Just seeing these colors transported me back to that dirt-lined parking lot in deep SE Portland where I spent every single day from May to October getting Miss Ginny ready for her close-up.

After the morning of yard work commenced, I opened up my laptop and searched for photos of the bus conversion process (that I had successfully avoided looking at all these months). The work was so grueling and isolating that I had never been interested in reminiscing about it - until now. There was something about digging in the earth in the hot sun today that made me miss those days of honest work. It reminded me that those miserable days of hard labor afforded me the opportunity to do what I get to do now: sit on a bus, talk to interesting people and help them find treasures.

Here are a few of the photos that jumped out at me:

Photo that the used car lot in Eugene posted in their Craigslist ad. I'll never forget the day I saw this.

The side of the bus, which used to read "Decathlon Athletic Club." I later found out that Decathlon was a meeting place for hockey players in Burnsville, Minnesota, and my bus used to take them to their games.

My first major project: tearing up the flooring (which was glued to plywood) on the upper floor when it was about 80 degrees outside. Miserable.

Finally seeing the school bus yellow give way to a shiny, clean coat of paint.

My dear friend Tara rolling the first story exterior while a glass installer puts in one of the last windows. That project only took 4 months.

The dresses that started taking over our house.

Finally being able to visualize what this puppy was going to look like when she was painted and had all her windows.

The bottom floor getting finished up.

First day in her new home.

Happy holiday weekend, everyone - and happy reminiscing!