travel – Page 3 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{waiting for aaron with sadie after work.}

[post-dinner sorbet sundae!}

[packing for a weekend wedding.}

{the bridge of the gods in cascade locks, oregon in the columbia river gorge. so gorgeous!}

{we were in the columbia river gorge for the weekend to celebrate my cousin, jesse’s, wedding. the celebration was at a local orchard – so fun!}

{we drove out this morning to multomah falls with my parents & sister anya.}

{sadie & the falls.}

{after an extra-long return trip home from oregon because of traffic, we met up with friends at bastille for dinner.}

{i guess it is that time of year again to start thinking about my fall wardrobe!}

we spent a really lovely weekend in oregon celebrating my cousin’s wedding. my parents & sister anya were able to make the trip over as well – it was great to see so much family & catch up! if you haven’t been out to the columbia river gorge, you definitely should. it is breathtakingly gorgeous! the wedding was in an orchard with views of mount hood – pictures to come later in the week. we are gearing up for another week of sunny summer weather! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{after a day-long roadtrip the sportwagen needed a little love. plus i LOVE the car wash!}

{aaron wasted no time getting into vacation mode.}

{i am loving flavored coconut water for hydrating after workouts.}

{pool essentials: sun protection & magazines!}

{this is the life! but i only lasted about 5 minutes before i hopped in the pool since it has been in the triple digits.}

{i got to spend the weekend with this fun lady, one of my best friends from high school emily! we had so much fun!}

{ah, this face!}

{sadie was enjoying the late afternoons in the shade by the pool}

{we tried out some of the kebob recipes in the latest real simple for family dinner tonight. #delish}

{summer = watermelon.}

{this is how my nephews clean up the dishes. #thedogsaretheprewashcycle}

{sadie surveying my parents’ property.}

{thanks catch phrase for giving aaron the word fahrfegnugen.}

{yep, that’s the moon above my parents’ house. it was so beautiful tonight!}

aaron, sadie, & i drove down mid-week for my ten year high school reunion. besides feeling a little old, we had a lot of fun! i was able to catch up with my close girlfriends, old classmates, & some family this weekend which was really great & much needed. it almost makes me wish i lived in boise again. but then i think of how much i love seattle & am thankful we are just a short ways away. it definitely feels like summer down here with triple digit heat & we have taken full advantage of the A/C & swimming pool at my parents’ house! what a fun weekend & thanks to everyone for making it so amazing!

how was your weekend?

highlights of 2012.

{via}

happy 2013!

i love reading yearly highlights on other blogs & even though i try to keep up on the updates via this blog, there are hopefully a few fun things to share that you haven’t heard before. here’s the rundown of 2012:

january: i donated blood for the first {& last} time. we dined at emmer & rye in queen anne with my friend beth ann who was in town visiting. we survived snopocolypse 2012. the repairs on the jetta were finally completed from my rear-ending in november. sadie had surgery to get a small lump removed & have her teeth cleaned.

february: we took a trip to new england & managed to visit all six new england states. we spent a long weekend in boston. i celebrated my 27 {yikes!} birthday & valentine’s day with my love in manchester, new hampshire. we celebrated thanksgiving in february with my law school friends {this is a reoccurring event in which my friend miriam cooks up a big thanksgiving dinner at various times of the year}. we celebrated leap year!

march: my mom visited for a long weekend. i oversaw work to the townhouse {new venting for the dryer}. we house-hunted on the weekends with our realtor padraic. i started & completed all three books in the hunger games series. we saw the hunger games at the IMAX. we saw {& were disappointed by} king tut at the pacific science center {no tut, just his stuff}. aaron took a work trip to vegas. we made our first {& only} offer on a house. our offer was accepted!

april: we took a post-offer tour of our new house. we celebrated easter dinner with my grandmother. we showed the townhouse to potential new tenants. i co-hosted a baby shower for amanda. we packed up all of our belongings for the big move. we closed on our house after signing lots of paperwork & handing over a very large check. we moved.

may: we were rear-ended {this better not become an annual event}. my mom & dad visited for a long weekend & helped with some house projects. we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday! we celebrated aaron’s 29th birthday! i took on my first pro bono case with VAIJ. we hosted a small dinner party with old idaho friends kami, travis, & their adorable daughter olive. we spent a night on the town in bellevue at aaron’s organization’s ship party with lots of aaron’s co-workers.

june: we saw dia frampton in concert at chop suey. we hosted a small dinner party with my law school friend marcus, his then-fiancée katy, & their beagle maggie. padraic & his partner justin threw us an awesome housewarming party! we ventured down to alabama for andy & hailey’s wedding. i had lots of phone interviews.

july: we attended herschel’s first birthday party {the son of one of my law school friends}. we celebrated the fourth of july! i started going to fitness classes with my neighbor leanne at community fitness. we hosted a small dinner party with andy & hailey, just back from their honeymoon! we attended thanksgiving in july at miriam’s. sadie & i drove down to idaho. i got my haircut & had drinks with my CBC {high school} girlfriends. we loaded up the car & took a roadtrip {sadie included} to stevenson, wa for marcus & katy’s wedding. we saw the dark knight rises at the IMAX.

august: we celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a picnic dinner at greenlake! we attended our first neighborhood potluck & met lots of our neighbors. we joined a summer bocce ball league with ben & sarah. i did yoga in the park with our neighbors – the friends – & tens of other people. i shopped & noshed with my friend ashley who was in town on a work trip. we attended the pratt’s housewarming party {a couple i met & befriend while i was in americorps}. we attended padraic’s wig birthday party. i met my pro bono client. i was offered a position doing media license management & started working. my bff carlie came into town – our first house guest! we attended a moroccan dinner feast at ben & sarah’s house. aaron’s parents visited seattle for a week.

september: we attended a final farewell summer bbq. we visited indiana to see family & surprise meg at her baby shower. we attended a colts game with our friends colt & erin. we celebrated sadie’s eighth birthday!

october: we visited peru & got to hike around one of the new seven wonders of the world machu picchu. my mom & sister anya visited for a long weekend. my friend meg was in town to visit! aaron made an unexpected trip back to indiana to attend his late grandmother’s service. we attended ghouls near greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash, as a somecard. we celebrated halloween with our very first trick-or-treaters!

november: aaron attended a week-long conference for work & stayed downtown. i watched the election results while painting the bathroom trim & texting aaron updates. we hosted our first {vegetarian} thanksgiving. we spent the long holiday weekend working on the house.

december: we attended a housewarming party for amanda, george, & madeleine. we brunched with our neighbors – the friends – at the 5 spot in queen anne. my mom visited for a long weekend. i brought back a pinterest christmas & recruited some friends to join in on the fun. we celebrated the holiday season with six holiday parties with friends & co-workers. i won rookie of the year at work. we enjoyed a double-date night in bellevue with some newly engaged friends. we loaded up the car with presents & made the trek to idaho for the week of christmas. we celebrated christmas! we made it safely back to seattle only one day delayed. we plan to ring in the new year with friends & watch the space needle firework show.

reflecting back on this year, i am reminded how blessed we are & also how different this year has been than the year previous. it has been such a wonderful year & ringing in a new one is a bit bittersweet.

how was your 2012 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2013 already?

see highlights of 2011 here.

my long weekend in pictures: idaho edition.

{driving thru snoqualmie pass to start our roadtrip from seattle to boise. luckily we had dry roads!}

{crossed over the 45th parallel. even though we were driving farther away from the north pole, it seemed fitting that this sign said north pole. very festive!}

{my two teams went head-to-head in the las vegas maaco bowl game on saturday. #gobroncohuskies the broncos pulled out a win but it was an awfully close & nerve-racking game.}

{i caught up on magazines during half-time. thanks for saving all your mags for me mom!}

{my mom & i made caramel this weekend. twice. it keeps coming out too hard. any suggestions on how to make soft, chewy caramel?}

{watched the seahawks destroy the 49ers. happy for the victory & happy we weren’t in seattle for all of that rain!}

{merry christmas eve from my parents’ house!}

we have had such a wonderful weekend in boise. my being so relaxed has directly resulted in the very few pictures for this weekend post – my apologies! i hope you have had a wonderful pre-christmas weekend too! how was your weekend?

our trip to peru: part iv.

{this is the last of the peru posts, whew! part i, part ii, & part iii.}

{sacsayhuaman – cusco, peru}

{cusco, peru}

thanks for hanging in with us thru our many, many memories of peru. as you can tell, we had an absolute blast and would recommend peru & machu picchu to anyone looking for a great place to travel!

where have you been lately? is peru on your travel to-do list?

our trip to peru: part iii.

{part i & part ii.}

{the ruins continued – machu picchu, peru}

{the inkaterra hotet – machu picchu, peru}

{ollantaytambo – sacred valley, peru}

{sacred valley, peru}

more photos to come!

our trip to peru: part ii.

{sorry for anyone that got two emails about the first peru blog post last wednesday & friday. i was having trouble with the formatting & the post uploaded, but then was taken back down.}

{part i.}

{ollantaytambo, peru}

{inka rail – machu picchu, peru}

{the ruins – machu picchu, peru}

more photos to come!

our trip to peru: part i.

i thought it would be fun to commemorate the one month mark from returning home from peru to post our trip pictures. {i apologize to those of you who have been waiting. good news, wait is over!} i have to warn you that there are a lot of pictures & i will be breaking up the trip into a couple of posts. enjoy!

{larco herrera museum – lima, peru}

{cusco, peru}

{chincheros – sacred valley, peru}

{aranwa hotel – sacred valley, peru}

more photos to come!

my weekend in pictures.

{hello seattle, it is good to see you after a week!}

{our house was slightly cold upon our return. thank goodness for central heat!}

{my huskies played a good game against usc though it was still a hard loss.}

{look who we got to see on friday night! gosh, i missed her.}

{such a spoiled dog – aaron made her a pillow.}

{rockin’ my new blue suede shoes.}

{we watched a bit of the seahawks game over lunch with my mom.}

we flew in saturday afternoon from houston after flying all night from lima, so needless to say we had a low-key weekend. my mom & sister anya flew in sunday afternoon, so we will be spending a fun-filled & busy week with them. back to the grind tomorrow. how was your weekend?

OOF.

we are OOF* today so there won’t be any my weekend in pictures post today. sad, i know. but, i have scheduled some posts & i will be back next week for regularly scheduled programming.

for your viewing pleasure, i will leave you with a picture of where we are this week.

any guesses? {i will have non-googled pictures to share when we get back!}

how was your weekend?

*does anyone understand why the acronym for out of office is OOF & not OOO? or even OFF? OOF makes no sense. none at all.