random – Page 2 – emerald city diaries

#thankful.

happy turkey day! i didn’t participate in 30 days of thankful for the month of november so i thought i would list out a few things i am thankful for to celebrate thanksgiving.

//our sometimes creaky hardwood floors//

//sadie’s furry rabbit feet//

//technology that makes being across the country seem not so far away//

//rubber shoes//

//my husband’s endless patience, optimism, & love//

//sunday night dinners with my 90 year-old grandmother//

//amazon prime//

//handwritten letters & notes//

//beautiful, fresh produce//

//the bus drivers that navigate thru my commute each day so i don’t have to//

//my friends & family – near & far//

//our electric blanket//

//two incomes//

//health insurance//

//the best niece & nephews on the planet//

//our neighbors//

//our little house that is already full of charm//

//creative outlets – blog, projects//

//crock pot dinners//

//instant oatmeal//

//catching up with old friends//

//date nights//

//the ability to travel//

//college football//

//my education//

//no voc paint//

//the virtually endless storage in our basement//

//random acts of kindness//

//my marriage//

//inspiring blogs//

#thankful

what are you thankful for this year?

my weekend in pictures.

{first pumpkin latte of the year!}

{delivery in the mail from nordy’s.}

{iphone 5 ordered. whoop whoop!}

{aaron’s parallel parking job. doesn’t get much closer than that.}

{the best cookies ever – italian florentines. thanks ben & sarah for introducing these to me a few weeks ago & thanks to whole foods for selling them!}

{rockin’ my new flats on date night saturday night. we went and saw premium rush with gordon joseph-leavitt. it gave me a lot more respect for bike couriers & a lot less respect for cops.}

{mini french toast for breakfast.}

{thanks to the seattle ban on plastic bags & charge for paper bags i get to use really cute reusable bags.}

{aaron was so enthusiastically cleaning sap off of our windshield that he may or may not have broken the handle.}

we had a sunny & fun-filled weekend with friends & family, but boy it went quickly! how was your weekend?

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.

do you have regular social events in your calendar?

my long weekend in pictures.

{ben, sarah, sam, diane, cal, aaron & i went wine tasting in woodinville on saturday.}

{posing with the pig at project v – a vodka distillery.}

{we stopped at woodinville’s warehouse district where many of the vineyards in eastern washington set up tasting rooms. there were lots!}

{190 proof vodka. i was more interested in that beautiful demi john it was in.}

{the moon was awesome this weekend. this was taken saturday night.}

{we have grapes growing over the fence from the neighbor’s yard.}

{we are bird-sitting this week for ben & sarah. welcome hamachi & azul!}

{sadie surveying while aaron & i did some yard work on sunday.}

{another free giveaway on craigslist. we use craigslist to get rid of so much: cardboard boxes, old TVs, old furniture, etc. this is also a hint for a post later this week.}

{a dessert smorgasbord from menchie’s at the u village.}

{aaron is embracing the trend of fascinators.}

{aaron installed a dual-flush handle on our toilet this weekend. i hope this helps keep our water bill low!}

{i got some framed pictures ready to go for my desk at work: an instagram of sadie, & aaron & me at a wedding this summer.}

{yummy chocolate from theo’s.}

{chocolate covered fortune cookie? yes, please? also, i am taking that fortune as a sign that i need to get back into some crafting projects that are on the back-burner.}

{yummy dinner at snappy dragon to start the week. we sat at the jiao zi bar & enjoyed lots of yummy dumplings.}

we had a lot on our plates this weekend & are thankful it was a long one! aaron’s parents were here until sunday morning & there was so much to do in the yard & around the house. i am bummed that the weekend is already over (it was so nice to sleep in & hang out with aaron & sadie), but the forecast is shaping up to give us at least another week of summer-like weather, so i can’t complain too much. how was your long weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie surveying her domain.}

{sadie did not like the thunder & lightning storm we had on friday. she spent most of the morning hugging my arm.}

{without power nearly all day on friday. boo.}

{did a.m. yoga on the laptop. very old school.}

{visited sascha at café vita in queen anne & enjoyed some very delicious coffee!}

{sadie took a snooze at ace hardware. home depot is actually her favorite store because they serve popcorn – which inevitably gets all over the floor – but ace does have dog treats.}

{stare down between sadie & the neighbor cat. aaron had to break it up.}

{downloading music & audiobooks for my drive to idaho on monday. yep, that iPod is a relic.}

{nap time at the lower house on sunday afternoon. aaron had the right idea sleeping with his hat on his face; i should have closed that curtain.}

{beautiful hydrangeas on a neighborhood walk sunday evening.}

we had a pretty lazy weekend & got a few things done around the house, but mostly we just hung out & relaxed. how was your weekend?

my long weekend in pictures.

{on our friday morning commute, we discovered a giraffe lives in the neighborhood. apparently giraffes can live in rhodies.}

{meeting downtown. the views were superb (as was the weather)!}

{still enjoying my peonies!}

{the first of many, many trips to the yard waste bin. we spent saturday cleaning up the yard. it was A LOT of work. kudos to all of you who have yards that always look neat!}

{we saw the king tut exhibit at the pacific science center. it was a bit of a disappointment as king tut wasn’t even there, but we also saw the laser gaga show & it (partly) made up for it!}

{sadie accompanied us on our rounds to the hardware store this weekend. she was so sweet & laid down waiting for us to go home. this was after she hoovered the popcorn remnants from the floor – thanks home depot for the free popcorn!}

{my amazing husband converted the power in our new pantry (formerly a laundry closet). our microwave now has a new home. yay for more counter space!}

{another painting project completed this weekend. the kitchen.}

we kept ourselves busy this weekend with homeowner-y stuff. it was a lot of work, but really worth it! this place is really starting to feel like home. our home.

there are lots of updates on the house that i have been meaning to post. i will get them up in the next few days for sure!

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{friday lunch date with a friend!}

{wore green pants & a charm bracelet for luck on st. paddy’s day.}

{got our bubble tea fix while shopping in the international district.}

{the space needle from the pacific science center.}

{date night: popcorn & a slush puppy to see the lorax in 3d at the IMAX.}

{yep, more bubble tea. our first attempt at making it.}

{a new cooking light = the week’s meals planned & shopping list finished on sunday!}

i think everyone else in the country is experiencing summer-like temperatures while we continue to freeze in the pacific northwest. c’mon spring weather!

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie loves cats. even though i think she is completely scared of them.}

{a scrumptious dinner at lunchbox laboratory.}

{typical night at our house this weekend: aaron playing xbox, misha & sadie cuddling on the couch reading the hunger games.}

{an awesome coke machine. vanilla root beer? yes please!}

{an entire box of red vines for me!}

{we saw this means war. better than i thought it would be!}

{the beautiful chihuly glass at lincoln square.}

{sunday brunch: filled pancakes. yep, those are hershey kisses in the middle row.}

{sadie waiting to go on a car ride.}

{pre-bought our tickets to see the hunger games when it comes out. movies are the best on the IMAX!}

{aaron & sadie stop to pose in front of the space needle.}

{our newest kitchen addition: a dutch oven. now, where to store it?}

{aaron had a minor oral surgery last week & everything is healed up! all done with the antibiotics & stitches out tomorrow.}

{enjoying tea & the hunger games. sidenote: do you see a pattern here? i know, i am obsessed. i really didn’t pay attention to the hunger games at all until earlier this week. now i haven’t been able to put down my kindle until i am thru the third book!}

{my grandmother wanted to throw away this beautiful ceramic stool. so glad we were there to take it off her hands!}

ugh. that is all i have to say about daylight saving time. you would think the one hour time change wouldn’t have that much effect, but it sure has – slept in late sunday, went to bed late sunday & could barely get up this morning… you would think i had completely changed time zones & was jet-lagged. nope, still in seattle & trying to figure out why in the world daylight saving time makes sense. at all. anyone?

i have to share a joke that i was recently re-introduced to as it captures my thoughts on the time change perfectly: when told the reason for daylight saving time change the Old Native American said, “Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.”

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

sorry for the delay in posting today, the busy weekend overflowed into my monday!

{gummy calcium supplements, yes please!}

{i tried out a fishtail braid in my hair.}

{aaron brought me breakfast in bed on saturday!}

{there are beautiful spring bulbs blooming all over our neighborhood!}

{sadie was enjoying a bit of sun & fresh air. she is eagerly waiting for the weather to be warm enough that we can leave the car window open all the time.}

{we went to matt’s for one half of dinner & a movie.}

{the oysters on the half shell were delish!}

{we saw the artist. i really enjoyed it – the costumes were fantastic! can i just wear 20’s fashion all the time? have you seen it?}

{eleven eleven – make a wish!}

{brunch at the barking frog in woodinville.}

{fresh dungeness crab was one half of sunday night reef & beef dinner.}

my mom was in town visiting this weekend so it was fun to catch up & hang out with her. aaron started feeling sick late saturday, but is on the mend. how was your weekend?

thirty before I am thirty.

number six: visit New England. {pics will be posted soon!} i had never visited any of the new england states before (except for boston) but it has been on my travel list for as long as i can remember. my grandmother is from the boston area and her brother went to school & lived in providence, rhode island, so i feel a bit of a family connection to the area. unfortunately other things just got in the way of ever visiting – living on the west coast, lots of other places on the travel list – until now! aaron & i were able to visit the entirety of new england while we were vacationing the week before last! we may not have thoroughly visited each state – i still want to visit cape cod, portland, burlington & new haven, to name a few – but we did drive thru & stop to see at least one town in every new england state.

number nineteen: go on a four state roadtrip. this to do goes hand-in-hand with visit new england as it was pretty easy to drive thru four new england states (much more so than western states!). we actually drove thru all six new england states {can you name them all?} but not all in one day. though on our way out of town, we did actually complete the four state roadtrip – so exciting! we left manchester, new hampshire & drove south thru massachusetts on our way to connecticut; we stopped for lunch in connecticut & drove east to providence, rhode island; then we headed back north & drove thru milton, massachusetts (where my grandmother & great uncle are from) on our way the boston airport.

{vermont, maine, new hampshire, connecticut, rhode island & massachusetts}

have you visited new england or been on a four state roadtrip?