John got back from Portland last night. It's good to have him home! When I told Queets we were going to pick up dad at the train station, he started howling and got really excited (he knows the word "dad"). John surprised me with a present - he bought me an adorable sun dress from Lizard Lounge. Totally on a whim! He's so sweet and thoughtful.
Today is going to be a mellow summer day with a couple errands. I've been desperately needing new glasses for several years now, but I've been putting it off b/c I only wear them when I'm getting ready for bed, or when I wake up in the morning. I pretty much always wear my contacts. But the glasses I have are lame and starting to fall apart (I literally think I got them in MD before I moved to Seattle!) So, today I'm going to hopefully to to the glasses store and pick out a new pair.
Next store to the glasses place is my favorite used bookstore, so I'm also going to hopefully find some good paperbacks. Here are some books I just finished, and recommend:
1) Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin -- if you're looking for "chick lit" this is great! The perfect beach book. I couldn't put it down.
2) Boomsday, by Christopher Buckley -- great political spoof. Funny. By the same author who wrote "Thank you for Smoking"
3) The Road, by Cormac McCarthy -- grim, but also hopeful and pretty amazing.
This evening we're heading to a BBQ at our across-the-street friends Jay and JoAnn's house.
(I just had to get up from the computer and go outside because the crows were making a big commotion. We've been feeding Queets on the back porch because he makes a mess and gets food (wet + dry) all over the floor, which if you don't clean up every last speck, attracts ants. But now we need to remember to bring his bowl inside when he's done eating on the porch, because if you don't it attracts crows! They'll swoop down, squawking to all their friends, and try to eat the food he didn't finish.)
Anyway, I talked to Bobby last night. He and Sara are gearing up for their road trip! They'll be taking a cool route, driving through the Southwest, stopping, among other places, at Roswell, New Mexico! Should be interesting, I've never been there. They'll get to Portland mid/late next week, and John and I will meet them there and stay through the weekend. July 27 is Bob's 30th b-day so we'll have lots of festivities.
Can't believe my little brother is turning 30!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Our pool
The Seattle PI has a fun article today about our neighborhood pool. I love it b/c it's on the beach and filled with saltwater from Puget Sound. Great to swim in.
Every morning Queets and I run past the pool and we can see the swim team practicing. Just one whiff of chlorine takes me back to the old days of North Creek...
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Summer panic
Summer is so wonderful here in the Pacific Northwest, there's a general sense that you have to cram a million fun things into the months of July and August, before the wintery dark arrives. The days are so long (it doesn't get dark in the evenings now until 10ish) so you feel like you need to hike/garden/boat/fish/etc 24-7 and you'll sleep when winter comes.
So today at work I had my first panic that we're not doing enough outdoor fun. But we've been so busy with work and travel (I recently got promoted to nat'l communications director, and John is busy as always, raising money and hiring new staff) we've been wanting quiet weekends at home.
Enough of that! Who cares about laundry, vacuuming, etc. Tonight after work we'll have a late dinner b/c I'm taking Queets to the beach. And this weekend we're going hiking. There. That settles it. My panic is already starting to subside.
So today at work I had my first panic that we're not doing enough outdoor fun. But we've been so busy with work and travel (I recently got promoted to nat'l communications director, and John is busy as always, raising money and hiring new staff) we've been wanting quiet weekends at home.
Enough of that! Who cares about laundry, vacuuming, etc. Tonight after work we'll have a late dinner b/c I'm taking Queets to the beach. And this weekend we're going hiking. There. That settles it. My panic is already starting to subside.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Great long weekend
Loved the 3-day weekend! Beautiful weather here in Seattle. This is the time to be in the Northwest! Here are some of our weekend highlights --
* Fresh, local strawberries from the farmer's market. Bought a bunch of those and picked the rhubarb in our garden. Made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for our 4th of July dessert. Mmm.
* Watched "Dan in Real Life", nice feel-good movie
* Did major yard work. Got a bunch of bark/mulch to make everything look "done". And noticed the cherry trees we planted last year have fruit on them!
* Re-stocked our bird seed supply with a trip to "Wild Birds Unlimited" -- John is a great tender of our local wildlife. Today he witnessed a sharp-shinned hawk come right down to our bird feeders and snatch a house sparrow innocently munching on the new food. Yikes. Nature in all its glory...
* Neighborhood bike ride with Queets. Took him a little while to get used to trotting alongside the bike (I thought I was going to wipe out/run him over a couple times), but once he got over the excitement of it he was good to go.
* Had a couple good runs down along the beach
* Dinner with friends at our favorite neighborhood pizza place -- huge slices, reminds me of the east coast.
Other than that, we're still trying to figure out whether we can/should sell our house in this blah market. We had a not-so-inspiring meeting with our realtor today.
And, we're looking forward to seeing Bobby when he moves to Portland later this month. Trying to plan a fun excursion with him (windsurfing in the Columbia River gorge is the leading contender right now) Can't wait!
* Fresh, local strawberries from the farmer's market. Bought a bunch of those and picked the rhubarb in our garden. Made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for our 4th of July dessert. Mmm.
* Watched "Dan in Real Life", nice feel-good movie
* Did major yard work. Got a bunch of bark/mulch to make everything look "done". And noticed the cherry trees we planted last year have fruit on them!
* Re-stocked our bird seed supply with a trip to "Wild Birds Unlimited" -- John is a great tender of our local wildlife. Today he witnessed a sharp-shinned hawk come right down to our bird feeders and snatch a house sparrow innocently munching on the new food. Yikes. Nature in all its glory...
* Neighborhood bike ride with Queets. Took him a little while to get used to trotting alongside the bike (I thought I was going to wipe out/run him over a couple times), but once he got over the excitement of it he was good to go.
* Had a couple good runs down along the beach
* Dinner with friends at our favorite neighborhood pizza place -- huge slices, reminds me of the east coast.
Other than that, we're still trying to figure out whether we can/should sell our house in this blah market. We had a not-so-inspiring meeting with our realtor today.
And, we're looking forward to seeing Bobby when he moves to Portland later this month. Trying to plan a fun excursion with him (windsurfing in the Columbia River gorge is the leading contender right now) Can't wait!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Bob's moving to Portland!
Just got back from 2 big weeks in DC and NC. The big news is that Bobby got offered an amazing job at Wieden-Kennedy and he's taking it!
He's moving out to the great Northwest at the end of July. John and I might not be far behind, if we can sell our house in this crazy market. And mom and dad will come as soon as they can (retire now!)
It will be so, so great to all be in the same city. I can't even believe it, seems too good to be true.
The first week, John and I were in DC for "River Action Day", a big lobbying effort on the Hill. It was fun for John and me to be in DC - weirdly enough our first time there together! We were mired in work activities, functions and parties, but managed to meet up with Joy and Cheryl for appetizers. We also had dinner with Dave and Summer at a great restaurant in Georgetown, Hook (sustainable seafood). Super food. I had a dessert that was a take on S'mores, complete with cinnamon ice cream and homemade marshmallows.
The second week was with the fam at Wrightsville Beach, NC. Amazing weather and the water was Bermuda-clear. We rented bikes (those great fat-tire beach cruisers) and ate practically every lunch at a delicious fish taco joint. John met his goal of eating only fish for two weeks. He cooked some amazing dinners (grouper, mahi mahi) and my mom made her famous Maryland crab cakes.
John, Dad and Bob went fishing one morning with Captain Jeremiah, but sadly only caught a ray (Dad) and a flounder, bluefish and baby shark (Bob). John got skunked, but I bet if they had been fishing with flies he would have reeled in those spanish mackerel!
Mom and I had our own mini-adventure -- we swam the channel to Figure-Eight Island. Sounds harder than it really was. It was low-tide so we walked half way.
It was great to see Bob's girlfriend Sara. Good walks and bike rides. And, talking about The Hills. Heidi's appearance on Regis and Kelly sparked some debate. Sara and I were trying to convince my mom why she's lame. Mom, as exhibit A, here is Heidi's music video.
We flew from NC to DC last night and stayed with Joy and Jim, after a tasty dinner of Ethiopian food. Woke up at the crack of dawn for our flight back to Seattle. Beautiful weather here. We've done all of our laundry, picked up Queets, watered the garden, mowed the lawn, and now we're getting ready for a relaxing evening of pizza and Netflix.
Need to gear up for what will be a BUSY week at work.
Pics from the beach coming soon...
He's moving out to the great Northwest at the end of July. John and I might not be far behind, if we can sell our house in this crazy market. And mom and dad will come as soon as they can (retire now!)
It will be so, so great to all be in the same city. I can't even believe it, seems too good to be true.
The first week, John and I were in DC for "River Action Day", a big lobbying effort on the Hill. It was fun for John and me to be in DC - weirdly enough our first time there together! We were mired in work activities, functions and parties, but managed to meet up with Joy and Cheryl for appetizers. We also had dinner with Dave and Summer at a great restaurant in Georgetown, Hook (sustainable seafood). Super food. I had a dessert that was a take on S'mores, complete with cinnamon ice cream and homemade marshmallows.
The second week was with the fam at Wrightsville Beach, NC. Amazing weather and the water was Bermuda-clear. We rented bikes (those great fat-tire beach cruisers) and ate practically every lunch at a delicious fish taco joint. John met his goal of eating only fish for two weeks. He cooked some amazing dinners (grouper, mahi mahi) and my mom made her famous Maryland crab cakes.
John, Dad and Bob went fishing one morning with Captain Jeremiah, but sadly only caught a ray (Dad) and a flounder, bluefish and baby shark (Bob). John got skunked, but I bet if they had been fishing with flies he would have reeled in those spanish mackerel!
Mom and I had our own mini-adventure -- we swam the channel to Figure-Eight Island. Sounds harder than it really was. It was low-tide so we walked half way.
It was great to see Bob's girlfriend Sara. Good walks and bike rides. And, talking about The Hills. Heidi's appearance on Regis and Kelly sparked some debate. Sara and I were trying to convince my mom why she's lame. Mom, as exhibit A, here is Heidi's music video.
We flew from NC to DC last night and stayed with Joy and Jim, after a tasty dinner of Ethiopian food. Woke up at the crack of dawn for our flight back to Seattle. Beautiful weather here. We've done all of our laundry, picked up Queets, watered the garden, mowed the lawn, and now we're getting ready for a relaxing evening of pizza and Netflix.
Need to gear up for what will be a BUSY week at work.
Pics from the beach coming soon...
Friday, June 6, 2008
What we've been up to
...Traveling, mostly. Both John and I have been back and forth to Portland for work. He brought some of our old furniture down to PRC's new office (which is cool, it's actually a house, so he can stay there when he travels) and just returned today, so I'm looking forward to seeing him when I get home from work!
The weather here STINKS. Hope mom, dad and Bobby don't read this because I'm trying to convince them to move out here! The picture of our beach below gives you a sense of what we've been dealing with. Overcast. Chilly. Drizzly. Also, it was taken at the lowest tide of the year (sailboat owner isn't happy!)
I think we're going to do some yard/garden work at home this weekend. We're gearing up for a trip back east -- in DC the week of June 16 (will be fun to be in DC with John and show him the old stomping grounds, then in NC at the beach starting June 21. Can't wait!
The weather here STINKS. Hope mom, dad and Bobby don't read this because I'm trying to convince them to move out here! The picture of our beach below gives you a sense of what we've been dealing with. Overcast. Chilly. Drizzly. Also, it was taken at the lowest tide of the year (sailboat owner isn't happy!)
I think we're going to do some yard/garden work at home this weekend. We're gearing up for a trip back east -- in DC the week of June 16 (will be fun to be in DC with John and show him the old stomping grounds, then in NC at the beach starting June 21. Can't wait!
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