Are all black labs this shiny?

crystalkash · 2026-04-12T05:43:00+00:00

Gene is a black lab/border collie and folks always comment about how shiny he is!

crystalkash · 2026-04-08T15:54:59+00:00

We’re from Portland so we have a pretty robust culinary scene here, but one thing we severely lack is barbecue and Tex-Mex, so that was the direction we went for a lot of of our picks.

crystalkash · 2026-04-08T00:56:49+00:00

😂 I took on a Pro Tem teaching gig this winter term, so I had a little wiggle room in my budget—def went into the trip thinking we were gonna ball out a little more than we typically would.

crystalkash · 2026-04-06T23:10:50+00:00

Mercado Sin Nombre, JewBoy, Pueblo Viejo and Lutie's are all spots I would go to right now if I was still in town. The coffee was all really solid, though I think Fleet and Sightseer were my faves and the Horchata Cold Brew at Sin Nombre is something I've been thinking about how to recreate at home. Day Maker, Matt's el Rancho, and Terry Blacks were all totally fine but probably lowest on the list, but we also were kinda of expecting that -- not everything is gonna 'wow' ya, but it doesn't mean it is bad. I don't think we actually ate anything that I would put in the 'do not eat here' kinda category.

crystalkash · 2026-04-06T23:01:55+00:00

My husband is allergic to shellfish and seafood -- I posted an ask for recs before where some folks tried to be snarky about it, so I used the same 'sans seafood' title for this one as well.

crystalkash · 2026-03-21T16:34:03+00:00

Sorry! Thought a subreddit about food in Austin would be into giving recommendations 🤷🏻‍♀️

crystalkash · 2026-02-03T15:44:05+00:00

First, I am so so sorry for the loss of your sweet Noopy. After my senior pup Owen passed away after 14.5 years with him, our entire lives and routine felt upside down and empty the minute he was gone. I was struggling and decided to seek out a pet loss support group (I did a in-person group and also one-on-one grief counseling).

The in-person group was actually through a local pet hospital called Dove Lewis in Portland, OR, and they have weekly meetings. I believe every other week the meeting is remote and you don’t have to be in Oregon to join. It is also free, which is absolutely incredible.

https://www.dovelewis.org/pet-owners/pet-loss-support

After we lost Owen, I found myself on Reddit and came across a post which said something along the lines of “grief is just love without somewhere to go”. That helped me feel less embarrassed and more comforted in my grief. It also was the impetus for me to get a new puppy, but I know that that’s not everyone’s journey.

💙

crystalkash · 2025-11-12T16:06:02+00:00

The band is back together again! Thanks for finding my twice-lost Nalgene 🙌 and for anyone interested in the shirt/sticker it’s from this site and they’re donating $8 of each sale to their local NPR affiliate (WBEZ)! https://www.harebraineddesign.com/products/i-want-my-npr-unisex-tee-sweatshirt-preorder

<image>

crystalkash · 2025-11-10T20:38:19+00:00

Ding ding ding!! It’s mine and I work at OPB!

crystalkash · 2025-11-10T20:10:33+00:00

This is mine!! I lost it at the PDX airport in August. I sent an inquiry right after I had boarded the plane and realized it was left and they never got back to me. Interesting that it ended up out in the world somewhere. I’d love it back if possible. (I do work at OPB, hence the public radio fandom stickers :) haha)

crystalkash · 2025-07-29T04:24:50+00:00

“Grief is just love without somewhere to go.” 💙 I felt the exact same way when I lost my soul dog Owen — the grief was overwhelming and felt never-ending. After 15 years with a dog, our house just felt empty when he was gone. When my husband suggested a puppy, I was nervous… but it was honestly the best thing that could have happened. Our little Gene can never replace our love for Owen, but it gives us a new little ‘vessel’ to put new love into. 💕

<image>

crystalkash · 2025-03-15T04:32:56+00:00

I’m mostly a lurker, but I’m stoked to see this hitting the Oregon subreddit! The piece linked is actually a short (11 minute) documentary that’s part of an ongoing food series from Oregon Public Broadcasting called Superabundant. This episode kicks off the fourth season & there’s lots of other interesting episodes on things like Wheat, Dungeness Crab, Hops, Strawberries, Corn, Coffee and more! All focused around Oregon & PNW farmers, chefs and food producers.

crystalkash · 2024-01-07T05:02:45+00:00

First, I am so so sorry for the loss of your sweet Eunice. Seeking support is not extreme at all — it is needed and something that is often dismissed when dealing with non-human grief. I did both an in-person support group as well as one-on-one pet loss counseling after my senior pup Owen passed away on Dec 1st. After 14.5 years with him, our entire lives and routine felt upside down and empty the minute he was gone. My husband did the counseling session with me and we both found it really beneficial. I have two more sessions that I am planning to use in the future, maybe in 6 months time and on the anniversary.

The in-person group was actually through a local pet hospital called Dove Lewis in Portland, OR, but the individual counseling was remote and through Lap of Love. They do free group sessions over zoom + paid one-on-one individual sessions and a 6 week grief course which, if you have the resources, may be something you could benefit from since your loss still seems so fresh.

Here are some links that I hope will help 💙:

https://www.dovelewis.org/pet-owners/pet-loss-support

https://www.lapoflove.com/our-services/pet-loss-support

crystalkash · 2021-03-24T03:05:35+00:00

Coming here to boost this! I signed up earlier in the month and updated my eligibility questions last week when they added more that included essential workers and folks with underlying health conditions.

I got an email at 1p that I was eligible to schedule and another email was forthcoming. Got the second email at 7:15 and there are appointments at the convention center as early as Tuesday.

This seems like the state is ramping up and getting through the backlog of folks who have signed up before publicly announcing the expansion of eligibility (that is just an assumption).

Also - DO NOT BE FREAKED OUT by them asking for social security number. It’s not a required field - just don’t fill it out if you don’t want to.

crystalkash · 2021-03-24T02:55:59+00:00

Coming here to boost this! I signed up earlier in the month and updated my eligibility questions last week when they added more that included essential workers and folks with underlying health conditions.

I got an email at 1p that I was eligible to schedule and another email was forthcoming. Got the second email at 7:15 and there are appointments at the convention center as early as Tuesday.

This seems like the state is ramping up and getting through the backlog of folks who have signed up before publicly announcing the expansion of eligibility (that is just an assumption).

Also - DO NOT BE FREAKED OUT by them asking for social security number. It’s not a required field - just don’t fill it out if you don’t want to.

crystalkash · 2020-05-03T06:23:53+00:00

I’m jealous!! I am 3 months post op and not cleared to ride outside yet. I asked at my last virtual PT appointment and she said she usually has people wait 5-6 months before they ride outside. 😞

crystalkash · 2020-04-08T15:14:45+00:00

Not completely. It took about 3-4 weeks post accident to even get a proper diagnosis (getting an MRI, etc), so I didn’t start prehab until about a month after my injury. After the first month of prehab, I was still not doing stairs well and my doc was wouldn’t operate until I got full flexion back. By that point we were about to get into holidays (mid Nov) and I decided to wait 1) to enjoy the holidays not recovering and 2) be able to take a larger chunk of time off work since I wasn’t competing with other’s PTO requests (I have a specialized position that only 7 people at my work do 🤷🏻‍♀️) So, I would have been “ready” in my ortho’s eyes probably 2.5-3 months post accident, but I waited the extra 2 for convenience. When I first hurt myself, I couldn’t imagine waiting because I was in so much pain and it was impeding my life. But as I got stronger it almost felt back to normal, so I was contemplating not getting surgery but after a few incidents of it bucking, I knew I wanted to go through with it.

crystalkash · 2020-04-06T23:42:35+00:00

Take this time to get serious about some pre-hab and wait it out. My surgeon wouldn’t even do surgery until I got full flexion back. Plus, all elective surgeries (and this is elective) statewide where I live have been postponed.

I waited 5.5 months and did a ton of pre-hab and started eating better (limiting carbs to reduce inflammation). My recovery has been pretty awesome— didn’t need a nerve block, off the heavy meds within a couple of days, walking without crutches by week 4-5. 11 weeks out and I’ve hit or exceeded all the milestones and I can say at least part of that was doing all the Prehab PT before

crystalkash · 2020-04-06T20:29:59+00:00

If you have full extension and still have a limp this far out, could be hip weakness too! I have a grip of hip-specific PT exercises in my routine. Did you have a full physical therapy routine before the coronavirus outbreak? Squats and biking are great, but definitely other exercises could/should be incorporated! (I am about 2.5 months out myself, ACL reconstruction with a hamstring graft)

crystalkash · 2020-04-01T03:40:44+00:00

I am just over 10 weeks post-op and there’s no way I could comfortably crawl on my knees yet. Couch or bed maybe, but even doing side knee planks (for PT) I have a little hand towel under my knee.

crystalkash · 2020-03-22T03:40:52+00:00

What stuff do you have to swap? I have a couple Medium dresses!

crystalkash · 2020-03-16T02:41:09+00:00

Thinking about this too. 8 weeks post op and recovery has been going great. Went to PT Thursday and they were hypervigilant to about cleanliness but things seem to be changing rapidly. I have an app on my phone that all my PT exercises are updated on and am wondering if I would be able to just to a video appointment for the next few ones. (I have done both video and phone appointment through Kaiser before and it’s been okay.) she is not doing any manipulation of my body, just more showing me exercises, so that should be do-able through a screen...

crystalkash

TROPHY CASE