House Sitter in Portland, Oregon

I'm a papercutting artist, writer, and educator with a joyful spirit and a knack for keeping people's homes really clean while I care for their wonderful pets! My work takes me all over the world and, while my jobs often come with a place to live, I often end up housesitting because of my flexible schedule. After I've housesat for someone once, they tend to bring me back time and again, often for months at a time. I bond very quickly with animals and work from home, so I'm actually around to make sure they're happy. I connect well with the humans too and remain friends with the people I sit for. I believe in living comfortably, yet carefully in people's homes. You are trusting me to be respectful and thoughtful with your possessions, including your most precious non-traveling family members - a responsibility I take seriously. I do everything in my power to make your pets feel loved, safe, happy, and calm while you're away. I love to take photos to keep you updated, so you can see they're having a nice time while you're out. Since I work primarily from home, I'm in the house more consistently than most sitters, which means I'm there singing and talking to your pest, playing with them, and making sure they're having fun too. I find that animals adapt very quickly to being with me and snuggle up, even when they don't tend to like most other people. It really makes it nice while you're away, knowing your pet is truly cared for by someone who knows how to make animals feel safe. I also have a lot of experience caring for pets that need special medical help. I've given diabetic injections to cats, cooked special healthy food for older dogs, and given all kinds of pills. Nothing worries me or freaks me out. I have no problem thoroughly cleaning up barf or a hairball at 3am or hugging your dog all night if there are fireworks or storms. I have experience with all kinds of pets - sleepy old dogs, boisterous puppies, grumpy cats, off-the-wall kittens, and parakeets, canaries, hamsters, guinea pigs, goldfish, aquarium tanks, chickens, and barnyard animals. I'm incredibly communicative and responsive, so you can count on me. I grew up with pets and know what goes into a quality housesitter. In addition to keeping your home tidy, I clean the litter box every morning and evening, take dogs out to walk consistently and always pick up after them, and make sure you return to a nice, clean home. My dad was an architect and contractor and I grew up working on job sites, so if you have other things you need done, we can discuss those projects too. Once, I built a rock-walled garden in the Hudson Valley while catsitting for two months, with multiple beds, so the owners returned to a completely finished yard, complete with native flowers and plants that I sourced locally, a fully-planted and flourishing vegetable and herb garden, and a ton of new flowers. When their old pipes burst in the basement, I knew exactly what to do and saved them thousands in repairs by acting fast to prevent mold. Seriously! I am here for you! About me: After working on Broadway shows for ten years, I started working out of the country more often and have my own musical running annually in Hamburg, Germany with a national tour, along with other projects in Mexico City, Oslo, Sardinia, and across the US. I'm currently working on a novel based on one of my musicals and illustrating with my papercutting artwork and am often working on art commissions for some pretty well-known people, which is kind of fun. You become a de facto patron of the arts and have a special piece of art made in your home! My papercutting artwork premiered at Lincoln Center in a coproduction with the New York Philharmonic & the New York City Ballet. I've been profiled in The New Yorker, featured in The New York Times, and was selected as one of 12 "everyday visionaries" to represent NYC at the inauguration of the observation deck at One World Trade Center / Freedom Tower. You can see my TEDxBroadway talk and see some of my artwork at www.....com I teach workshops around the world including a 2-month project every three years at the Humanistskolen in Oslo, Norway where I lead 60 fifteen-year-olds to write, perform, and produce two original musicals. I'm fluent in Spanish and taught 3 years in Monterrey, Mexico where I founded a children's theatre and conducted an award-winning children's choir. Other teaching jobs have taken me to Sardinia, the UK, Uruguay, and across the US. I'm grateful to have built a life that allows me to travel and experience the world in all its wonder and love housesitting so YOU can travel and see the world too! I prefer longer sits - two weeks to a month or even longer, so take that sabbatical! I'm an actual human who can be counted on to treat your pets and home as my own.