Friday, June 13, 2008

REI, I'm Going to Have to Let You Go


I work in finance and am one of five women in the office.  I get asked all the time about the single guys that I work with.  When I first started my job, friends and family all asked "how are you liking it?" which was really just a precursor to "dish it, how many cuties?" or the slightly more subtle "anyone interesting?"  If by interesting you mean guys who leave labels on my desk like the one above, then yes.

There ARE single men in the office.  All of them cute and sweet, but annoyingly falling into the category of "outdoorsy."  This is something I run into as a single girl in Portland A LOT.  I always considered myself outdoorsy too.  And then I moved here and realized riding horses and spending summers at the beach translated to being carried around like a sloth with a touch of skin cancer.

My idea of being in the great outdoors includes a stroll somewhere scenic, maybe with a picnic thrown in and climbing on top of a rock so we can watch the sunset.  But I somehow managed to rack up a pile of friends who are BIG fans of the outdoors.  I have no idea how this happened.  They prefer their hikes to entail sharp ascents up the sides of cliffs (bonus if it's covered in ice) and I prefer a hike that has the words "Great for Kids" in the title (bonus if it's a loop).  Dig's sister and her new husband took a biking tour of Tuscany for their honeymoon.  I wrote about the last time I was on a bike here.  

Sometimes I secretly wonder if I moved to the Northwest because its rainy climate suits my nature of cozying up with a book, pulling warm cookies out of the oven or bundling up in a scarf and cap to duck into a bookstore to listen to a favorite author.  But then, the sun comes out in Portland.  I can feel it warm my skin and watch as it dapples the sidewalks with shadows of the dogwood trees.  The beginning of summer ... can being outside get any better?

I may not be covered in North Face, scarfing Cliff Bars while discussing mountain bikes and Smart Water.  But today as I sat outside at a bistro having lunch, wearing my new peep toe heels as I strolled along the waterfront afterwards, I realize that my version suits me just fine.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bummer that your last biking experience turned out so badly; 10 pins and a plate, OUCH!!! The lunch at the bistro and walking along the waterfront does sound pretty neat. My wife has been to Portland, but Washington and Oregon are the only two states west of the Mississippi that I have never visited, and I want to do that some day. Have a great weekend!

Lys said...

Everyone can make their surroundings their own. I'm not an outdoorsy gal at all. It's not good for the stilettos ;)

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

Umm.. I like your version better too. A picnic and a sunset while sipping on good drinks and eating good food is loads better than sweating..

HalfAsstic.com said...

I think your last biking experience was a message from God and you know... we can't just ignore those. I say take in as much nature as you want and when Mother Nature is sending you (very obvious) signals to curl up and read a good book, just do so! Go ahead and show her how smart you are!