friends – Page 9 – emerald city diaries

a shower for baby garner-ballard.

one of the reasons we picked the weekend before last to take a trip to the midwest was so that i could attend meg’s baby shower. {sidenote: meg is a cousin of one of aaron’s cousins, but that is just semantics & i consider meg family!}

one of the really fun parts about the shower is that kendra & i kept our trip on the DL, & showed up as surprise guests for meg. so fun!

aaron’s aunt & cousins – sharon, abbi, & maggi – threw the shower & they did such a wonderful job. the décor was so adorable & i was loving the color scheme. meg knows that she is having a boy, but i love that the shower didn’t scream “BOY!”

{those cake pops were delish // a fun sign for baby GB}

{stripey straws for the drinks // fun colored candy}

{maggi, meg, kendra, & kenley // mama & daughter}

{meg was spoiled with lots of love in the form of presents!}

{meg opening presents with her sister kait by her side // kenley wanted in on the present-opening action}

{meg enjoying a handmade card // i made some art of meg’s nursery}

{love you meg & happy shower!}

where is the farthest you have flown for a baby shower?

p.s. maggi, abbi, meg, & kendra all have blogs, so if you aren’t already a reader, you should definitely check them out!

my long weekend in pictures: indiana edition.

we left last thursday for a long weekend in the midwest to spend time with aaron’s family.

{waiting for the bus to take us downtown to catch the lightrail to the airport. #myhusbandlovespublictransit}

{hers & his lattes.}

{look at all of that leg room! glad we upgraded our flight.}

{we got to meet beau, my in-laws’ new dog.}

{we stayed with aaron’s friend colt, his girlfriend erin, & gertie the bulldog. i spent friday night cuddling with gertie.}

{i finally got to meet kenley! she is the daughter of kendra – aaron’s cousin – & such a doll!}

{teddy – aaron’s nephew – is already a slugger. let’s go 6-7!}

{aaron’s grandfather neal with aaron’s nephews teddy & frankie.}

{we crashed a wedding reception on saturday night. a cousin of a cousin is family, right? congratulations logan & vanessa!}

{me, kenley & kendra hanging out. finally!}

{um, 43 degrees indiana? definitely not ready for the cold yet.}

{we spent sunday morning tailgating at the colts game with colt & his family.}

{#letsgocolts}

{it was a bit sunny with the roof open at lucas oil field, but aaron made do.}

{the tomatoes at colt & erin’s makes me want my own veggie garden. someday.}

{waiting for our plane to take us back to seattle.}

{the beautiful sunset somewhere between indy & seattle.}

we had so much fun catching up with family & friends – thanks for having us indiana! aaron has quite a large family, most of whom still live in indiana, so we get spoiled whenever we go because we get to see so many people. we also got spoiled this time & got a chance to see family that flew in from out of town – thanks for making the last minute trip kendra & kenley! thanks to everyone for such a fun weekend!

how was your weekend?

bocce ball league.

shortly after i wrote this blog post about how hard it is to make friends post-college, aaron & i joined a bocce ball league that ran for the month of august. the sponsoring organization is seattle underdog sports league & it runs lots of leagues, including the co-ed flag football league that aaron & i were a part of for one game a few years back. {it was only one game because the no contact rule was difficult for some of the guys to wrap their heads around, including the guy that clothes-lined me in the mouth. whoops.}

bocce ball is a nice, no contact sport that doesn’t require a whole lot of skill & allows you to enjoy a nice beverage & chat with your teammates. aaron & i had both played bocce ball before, but never on a pitch (the grass, or lawn bowling green). also, we had to learn that you can’t chuck the ball like we did in other bocce ball games because divots on the pitch are a no-no.

the team was a fun mix of people, including aaron’s brother ben & his wife sarah. the rest of the team was contacts of ben, but it ended up including a gal i attended the uw business school with, & a gal i knew from the law school staff. {yep, seattle is a very small world!}

we weren’t really that great {though we weren’t awful. bocce can be tricky that way.} & our season ended early since we didn’t make the play-offs. even so, we had fun playing our two matches a week on wednesday evenings & enjoying each other’s company.

another fun part of the league is that almost every week had a theme. two of the theme nights that we dressed up for were nerd night & big hat night. i didn’t exactly follow the big hat theme and wore a fascinator instead, but i think we nailed nerd night. aaron & ben had such great nerd costumes (yes, aaron’s shirt says talk nerdy to me. it may or may not be a real shirt that he wears.) and were so in costume that they won a pair of tickets to a seahawks preseason game.

when august came to an end, so did bocce ball league. sad. but, we found a fun trivia night on wednesdays that we may take part in with the team in lieu of bocce ball. {bonus: we played last week & won!} the only bad part about trivia night is sadie can’t come to the trivia night bar (she could come to bocce ball as long as we kept her off the pitch) and there are no theme nights (i guess we will have to save our dressing up for halloween).

all in all, i am so glad we played bocce ball league this summer! i will leave you with a short video of nerd aaron dancing – this portrays the enthusiasm he had for bocce ball league this summer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czI0uw6I2cg&w=417&h=234&hd=1]

do you have regular social events in your calendar?

bff.

last week we had our first house guest: my bff carlie! we hadn’t seen carlie since she was the maid of honor in our wedding two years ago, so we had a lot to catch up on.

unfortunately, carlie was only able to stay two nights with us as she was heading to portland for the weekend to visit her dad who is working down in salem, oregon. also, i had to work a half-day while she was her which was a bummer. darn those real world obligations!

even so we had a great time dining out & exploring the u village & downtown. thanks for visiting us carlie!

{we took carlie to our very favorite local ice cream shop molly moon’s!}

how often do you see your out of town friends? also, i am curious how you stay in touch with loved ones that are out of town – email, phone, skype?

friends of a certain age.

{images: roman muradov}

i recently came across a NYT article on one of my favorite blogs – a cup of jo – that really hit home: why is it so hard to make friends (over 30)?

while i am not yet 30 (yep, i may be in my late 20s now, but i still have a few more years in my 20s!) making friends post-college has been a challenge. this is not to say that i don’t have friends. however, i often feel friend-less day-to-day. the vast majority of my close friends (& family) live in different states & thus different time zones, & the close friends i have in seattle feel distant as most are in completely different parts of their life (i.e., babies, jobs, single). i realize all of these folks are just a phone call away, but i am old-school & prefer in-person conversations to over the phone (or even skype really). plus, shouldn’t everyone have that one (or two, or three) person that is close enough to have over & discuss the ins & outs of everyday life (spouses not included)?

as i read this NYT article, i noticed a few things that applied to me: (1) i transferred from one college to another as a junior; (2) i don’t work (yet); and (3) i got married at age 25. now i have to wonder: have i completely set myself up for a future without (close, in-town) friends?

aaron & i have talked about joining some kind of group where were would meet people (or couples) that are interested in similar things, like a trivia group, co-ed flag football, or a bowling league, but, for whatever reason, we just haven’t pulled the trigger. perhaps this blog post will be the catalyst.

the other issue i find difficult is whether i can maintain a relationship with a friend who isn’t part of a couple. it is so much easier to find time to hang out when each spouse is friends with the male or female counterpart of the friend – true? since i have been married (or even since i was dating aaron), i have found myself searching for a couple to be friends with, as opposed to just one person. perhaps this is too limiting.

i would love your two-cents on this subject: have you struggled to make new friends as an adult?

my weekend in pictures.

{friday morning yoga.}

{it must be summertime because half of the time i drive thru eastlake the university bridge is up for boat traffic.}

{snacks packed for our road trip.}

{on the road! destination: stevenson, wa.}

{welcome to stevenson! so stevenson, wa is right on the columbia river acts as the state border between washington & oregon. in order to get to stevenson though, you have to drive into oregon & then cross back over into washington.}

{the bridge to hood river, oregon where we spent saturday morning.}

{downtown hood river.}

{family photo.}

{sadie was loving the shade & the cool concrete.}

{we stopped for a delicious juice on our way to the farmer’s market.}

{the columbia river gorge is absolutely gorge-ous! if you are ever near portland & have a vehicle, keep driving down i-84 to see the columbia river. you won’t be disappointed!}

{our little rustic cabin get-away.}

{here comes the bride!}

{the ceremony.}

{we clean up pretty well. at least for special occasions like weddings.}

{the cake cutting.}

{& the cake fighting.}

{the beautiful view from skamania lodge.}

{crossing back into oregon over the bridge of the gods.}

{bye-bye portland! we stopped in portland for a little shopping & leg-stretching before heading back to seattle.}

we had a fun weekend get-away to small-town, washington to attend the wedding of one of my law school friends, marcus. neither of us had spent any time at the columbia river gorge, but boy it was stunning! the weather was nice & sunny, & the wedding was so fun. how was your weekend?

sweet home alabama: andy & hailey’s wedding.

as you know, we were in alabama this last weekend celebrating the nuptials of our good friends andy & hailey. since aaron was a groomsman, we decided to head down to the south a few days early & spend some time with the bride & groom to-be & the rest of the wedding party.

{redneck night at flora-bama bar.}

we spend thursday afternoon on the beach on the florida panhandle & then changed into our finest redneck attire to dance the night away at flora-bama bar (named for its location on the border of, you guessed it, florida & alabama).

{our travel buddies: colin & carolyn.}

{the groom & bride to-be: andy & hailey.}

{colin, hailey, & chris.}

{shannon, hailey, & two of andy’s adorable nieces.}

{andy & hailey.}

{the beautiful sunset. & also colin watching the nba finals.}

{andy, hailey, & jaime. andy & hailey were donning their new trucker hats. his says “hitchin’ a bride” & hers says “randy for andy.”}

{me, andy, tyler, & alyssa.}

{rehearsal dinner.}

the rehearsal dinner was held at oak hollow farms in fairhope, AL in a beautiful, old (air-conditioned!) barn. there were twinkling lights hanging draped from the ceiling – as seen in this week’s my weekend in photos – & wood chips on the floor. we had delicious southern food, including catfish, pulled pork bbq, sweet southern tea, & peach cobbler. the toasts by the best man, & maid & matron of honor were given, followed by lots of dancing & karaoke. aaron even got on stage & sang me everything by michael buble which is what he surprised me with at our wedding; it was wonderful!

{the rustic centerpieces.}

{me & carolyn.}

{colin & carolyn.}

{the hosts & parents of the groom: barb & alan.}

{hailey & andy.}

{me & aaron. the dress for the rehearsal dinner was southern, so aaron wore a bow tie, & it wasn’t even a clip-on (i learned to tie one before we left)!}

{hailey, andy, aaron, & me.}

{wedding day!}

aaron stayed in fairhope with the rest of the wedding party on friday night while carolyn & i stayed at a little motel in town. on saturday, the wedding party got ready in fairhope, took some pictures, & headed to mobile for the ceremony. carolyn & i spent the morning at target, before heading to mobile to lunch & do some shopping before we got ready.

{apparently this guy’s rack makes a nice place for hanging dress shirts.}

{andy getting ready for the big day.}

{the first dance.}

{me & andy.}

{me & aaron. doesn’t he look so handsome in a tux?}

{cutting the cake.}

{the cake was delish. so were the sugar cookies & the french macaroons. two thumbs up to the bride for the dessert selection!}

{the traveling four-some all the way from seattle!}

{my dress was matthew williamson which i got from rent the runway. (this is a referral link.) the wedding was black tie optional & since aaron was wearing a tux, i figured i should wear something a little fancy since i was his date. it was so fun to dress up & i think we should start dressing more formally in the pacific northwest. who’s with me?}

{the ringbearer with his cool shades on.}

{the bride dancing with her father, barre.}

{the groom dancing with his mother, barbara.}

{yes, that is the garter around her head!}

{the send-off. we showered them in rose petals on their way out to the get-away car while the band played.}

{congrats to the new mr. & mrs. steiner!}

{my up do.}

a few people asked about my hair, so i thought i would just include this quick note. i knew i needed my hair to be up & off my neck. also, my hairdresser always taught me: the more the dress, the higher the hair. basically, if you are wearing a strapless dress, you can leave your hair down, but if you have straps, you should have all of it up.

my hair is thick & super long right now, so i needed an updo that had different sections. i basically followed this hair tutorial, but did regular french braids instead of french fishtail braids (my arms get too tired to do fishtail!).

it is definitely wedding season. have you been to any recently or do you have any to attend later this summer?

my weekend in pictures: mobile, AL.

{aaron & colin – one of our travel buddies & also a groomsman – had matching bags.}

{the view from our garage apartment at the dumas family bay house in fairhope, AL.}

{toes in the sand!}

{um yep, it was 83 degrees at 9 pm. welcome to the south!}

{we joined the rest of the wedding party at flora-bama bar, right on the boundary between florida & alabama – dressed in our redneck attire.}

{this is aaron wearing my redneck camo hat.}

{a special delivery for the groom.}

{the rehearsal dinner venue was an old barn that was decorated with such pretty lights!}

{a&m peanut shop in mobile, AL.}

{the courtyard at our cute little southern hotel.}

{the wedding service.}

{roses & feathers decorated the chandeliers at the reception.}

{a little snack of cheese & meat at the reception.}

{toasting glasses.}

{the wedding party arriving at the reception.}

{sadie was so excited to snuggle on the couch after a long weekend with her new beagle friend maggie. thanks marcus, katy, & maggie for keeping sadie company while we were away!}

{we were too lazy to make dinner on sunday night (after leaving at o’dark thirty & traveling all day) so we hit up pies & pints near our house.}

we spent the long weekend in the deep south celebrating the wedding day of our very good friends andy & hailey. aaron was a groomsman & looked so handsome in his tux. to say it was hot & humid would be an understatement, but we had an amazing time. congrats andy & hailey! {wedding pics to be posted later this week. i hope.}

how was your weekend?

a housewarming.

our realtor PJ – if you need one, he is the best! – offered to throw us a housewarming party as a closing gift. pretty sweet, huh? PJ’s husband, justin, owns two local restaurants – the hanger in georgetown & the ridgeback café in ballard – & was brought in as our crepe expert. yep, we had fresh, delicious savory & sweet crepes hot off the crepe iron to serve our guests. and, it turns out, a lot of wine (i guess that is what happens when your host brings a case of wine & then every guest brings a bottle. we have enough wine to throw a few more parties!).

our little housewarming party took place this last saturday evening. it was great to get friends & family together & show off our house (most of the guests hadn’t seen it yet & others hadn’t seen all the updates we have done).

{a few appetizers to go along with the crepes.}

{me, justin, & PJ chatting about home décor & food.}

{our sweet neighbor antonia!}

{since we had to endure threatening skies & rain at times, we got a double rainbow!}

have you thrown any parties lately?

my weekend in pictures: moving edition.

{boxes ready to move!}

{the desk at the escrow office where we signed our names about 67,888 times, approximately.}

{the key to our house!}

{sadie pretty much wants to be near someone (me) all the time. and preferably also touching.}

{uhaul for the move.}

{our rhodie is bloomin’ in the backyard. it is so gorgeous!}

{sadie staking out her yard.}

{happy, happy birthday to my dear friend sascha! sorry we couldn’t stay for karaoke & dancing.}

{thanks dave for expertly packing our uhaul!}

{first dinner at the new house was chicken mole at the local mexican restaurant.}

{we lost some of the bed hardware during the move & “camped out” on the living room floor with the mattress. aaron & i hated it. sadie LOVED it!}

{one of may boxes we unpacked this weekend!}

{i couldn’t find the coffeemaker, so made coffee with the french press. also, a sneak peak at our awesome kitchen tile.}

{we took our first of many, many trips to lowe’s.}

{unpacked the cookies to put in the cookie jar. you can see where my priorities were when unpacking the kitchen!}

well, after a few trips back & forth to the new house & lots of help from our local family & friends, we are officially in our new house (as of saturday evening!) we want to give a big (huge) shout-out to everyone who stopped by to help: ben & sarah, dave, marcus, andy & hailey, nick & jerry!

the house is still a mess (that’s an understatement, for sure), but i am hoping to post pictures of the (pre-moved into) house sometime this week for all of you that are hankering to finally see it.

how was your weekend?