Port Townsend

It was an action & adventure filled weekend in the quiet town of Port Townsend. Just a short ferry ride and drive from the city, Port Townsend offered impressive local fare, wine tasting, a cozy hotel, and a lovely hike along the beach and through the woods. A nice way to re-coup after the holidays.

The Anti-Santa

It seems that there are a few scrooges running around these days. Upon returning to my car last night, which was parked on a relatively empty side street, I found a note under my windshield wiper blade that read, "learn to park douche". Now seriously. I can't say this little nasty gram didn't piss me off, but I trust this individual will receive a lump of coal in their stocking. Or maybe I'll get lucky and be able to chuck a piece of coal at them....
Anyhoo, luckily my drive home took me right past one house's holiday light extravaganza and my cheer was restored.

Santa Come Early

I'm convinced the kitties are peeking at presents when I'm not looking.

Hustle and Bustle

With 8 more shopping days to go, I set out to get some shopping done today. I expected the worst-long lines, no parking spots, cranky shoppers. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Seattle-ites are filled with holiday cheer! So with the bulk of my shopping done, I popped in a movie and got to wrapping up my gifts. My mistake: ribbon on the gifts....a kitty's dream come true.

Christmas Cheers

The office holiday party: a time to mingle with co-workers from other sites, talk about non-work subjects, celebrate the holiday season together, and of course, exchange gifts. The rules were simple: you can either choose a gift from the gift table (in order of lowest-highest seniority) or steal a gift from someone else. Gifts can be stolen a maximum of 2 times. The theme to last night's gift exchange was coffee and booze; a therapist's favorite things! So as you can imagine, by the end things got a bit ruthless. I'm happy to report that I came home with a hot toddy gift set. Now that's what I call holiday cheer!

Christmas Kitty

It seems Mo has caught the Christmas bug. Here she is hanging out in her new favorite place with pals Ruby the Reindeer and Frosty.

Snow Day!

It seems appropriate for December 1st that a little of the white stuff would fall. The *official* snow measurement here on Queen Anne is about 2". The white flakes, x-mas music, and decorating my x-mas tree have definitely put me into the holiday spirit.

'Tis the Season

I woke up this morning and realized the holiday season is officially here. It seems my neighbors all got the memo, as the surrounding homes are decked out in wreaths, lights, blow up lawn decorations; the whole nine yards. Even the space needles has its x-mas tree up already. I decided it's time to dig out my holiday decorations and get into the spirit. While I love real x-mas trees, I don't love the mess or the end results of my felines eating pine needles. So, I'm thinking of investing in a small artificial tree. Other plans to help get into the spirit: walking the neighborhood at night to enjoy x-mas lights, perhaps a bit of ice skating down at the seattle center, and taking a stroll down candy cane lane. Oh, and shopping for x-mas gifts-hopefully mostly online.

Happy Monday

It seems so hard to start the week sometimes, even when it's a short week. As I sit here surfing the internets before heading out to battle traffic, this flow chart found on www.reddit.com
seemed to sum things up:
http://projectsidewalk.com/flowchart/

Bumpercarts

While the car carts designed to keep kids entertained seem like a good idea, one would hope the genius who designed these would have made them regulation width in order to allow more than one cart in an isle at a time. After a long week working with the littles, I stopped by a local market to do some shopping. Engrossed in this week's 10 for 10 deal in the soup isle, I didn't see the tricked out cart coming at me, nor did the well-intentioned (likely desperate for a diversion at 6:30pm on a Friday) parent realize the width of the beast they were pushing around. And just like that I was smashed up against the soup cans and the carts became jammed. Well, the aspiring race car driver wasn't in the mood for a pit stop....and so the tears began. My next stop was the wine isle.

bring it on!

as time takes a step back, so does 'ol DL. back in the day this chica would have been at the par-tay until it shut down. but a girl has gotta grow up....that is until they find the par-tay to be at on a random november night. so when one gets invited to a rooftop party in the heart of caphill, one must party like it's 1999 (at UW frats).

the setting: rooftop clutch view of the city skyline, $10 all you can drink PBR, $2 jello shots, $2 jose, $2 wiener roast. really, need i say more?

what needs to be said is: yes, much PBR was consumed, no jose was consumed, and yes, i did actually throw in the towel when appropriate (read: no after hours).

the take home message: poor choices are not always made, but good times are always had.

2 more days...

....and counting. that's right. just 2 more days until the big guy's new movie.
don't miss it-fred claus comes out this friday!

A Step Back

With the time change happening a week later than usual, it seems not everyone or everything was prepared. I tended to all my household clocks before going to bed Saturday night to prepare for the change and assumed my computer and cell phone would take care of themselves. I was disappointed that my computer wasn't so independent. Guess it didn't get the memo....
At 10am I contacted direct tv with a complaint regarding my service (secondary to my cat scratch tv rig up). Every technician I spoke to said "good afternoon!". I was still on my first cup of coffee and became increasingly irritated by their error. Then there was my stomach. I was hungry for dinner by 3:45pm. Man, the time change can sure do a number on a girl...

Grill it up!

That's right folks, I'm back to grilling. Just in time for the rainy season, I bought myself a new George Foreman grill. It's a little guy, but definitely does the trick. How I survived the last couple of years without one of these bad boys is beyond me! The possibilities are endless-tonight was grilled veggies and chicken-who knows what tomorrow will bring!

Honorary Member

If you will be in the NW during the Christmas holiday AND you are an auntie-to-be, THEN you have been elected as an honorary member of our book club. This means: choose a graphic novel and we'll figure out a date to hang.

Game Over

Why good time = bad time next morning?
No more martinis for this lady.

Pumpkin beer on the other hand....

Calling all shakers!

I am on a qwest to learn how to make the perfect martini. Last night I was out for a birthday party. We visited "The Chapel", an old church that has since been converted into a kick ass bar specializing in delicious martinis. While the cantaloupe and coconut martinis were amazing, the classic dirty gin martini was the best. While sipping on it I was reminded how much I love me a good martini. A good thing? Probably not. Now that I've entered my late 20s, it seems a good life skill would be making and drinking martinis. So c'mon, share your knowledge!

Change of Season

Fall has arrived in Seattle and Mo and Millie have seemingly hunkered down for the season. With fewer birds to hunt from the windows, they spent the better part of the day on their favorite chair. Who can blame them? Bet they're counting the days until they get to sport their Halloween bling. Stay tuned....

Super Good

Super bad is really just super funny. Need I say more? See it.

Happy 4th of July!

Once again, the Gas Works Park Fireworks show did not disappoint! Check out the view from my apartment. Not pictured: Bellevue and Kirkland shows, which could be seen in the distance.

Taste of Temecula

When in Temecula, one must taste Temecula. Taste the wine that is made there, that is. My favorites: Wilson Creek's Almond Champagne and Duet (newly released Zinfandel & Cabernet Sauvignon).

Vacation

Here's the Kern River, which I spent much time at while visiting my dad a couple of weeks ago.

This is about the spot where I caught my very first fish-a rainbow trout (not that I touched it or ate it). Also enjoyed swimming in the river and watching those who dared to go river rafting, despite the extremely low water level.

The Furminator

After vacuuming at least twice a week and grumbling about the presence of Mo's fur on absolutely everything I own, I finally broke down and spent the $34 on the "furminator". And let me tell you, I am not disappointed. As you can see from the photo, this handy little tool does the trick! The furminator is a must have for all pet owners.

Party of 1

Being single is a double edged sword. On one side there's the freedom and wild nights out with friends. But then there's going out with friends and all their significant others, the infamous questions and comments about one's single state (i.e. "Don't worry, you'll find someone" or "Have you met anyone yet?"), and of course RSVPing to evites with "attending: 1 + 0 guest". What's a girl to do when she starts singing the single blues? First of all, she must read and embrace Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out On Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness, get a pedicure, and then remind herself how wonderful she is and that life will go on with or without Prince Charming.

Countdown

It seems to be a week of countdowns. Until quitting time, the holiday weekend, vacation, and of course until the next AI is revealed. It seems Seattle is bursting with talent! Apollo crowned the ballroom king. Now can Blake pull through and make those from the great NW proud? Will dreams be broken? Only Ryan Seacrest can tell us. Regardless of who the next AI will be, Kenneth and Jonathan, winners of the best friends golden idol award, are America's true idols.

C'mon down!

After 50 solid years, it's hard to believe Bob Barker is throwing in the towel. What is mid morning television without Bob? Who is going to remind people to spay and neuter their pets? From watching the Price as Right as a child and swearing that someday I'd be a Bob Barker Beauty to perfecting the run down a college apartment hallway with the remixed theme song blaring in the background (after a few brews of course), Bob was the inspiration. But what to do now that "appeared on the Price Is Right" can't be crossed off my list of goals? What about winning at plinko? Or that solid oak bedroom set? Or that sweet American made car? Will life ever seem complete? Only time will tell.

bottoms up!

Although I love wine, I still have not mastered the art of selecting a new fine bottle of vino (within my budget). As a result, I have ended up purchasing some duds. In an effort to prevent unnecessary waste of alcohol, I always use up the wine somehow-either by choking it down or cooking with it. I have seemingly stumbled upon the best fix in the book for a bottle that isn't the best: just add one ice cube to your glass of wine. Now, keep in mind I have only tried this with red wines, but it definitely has worked wonders for me. Cheers!

Locked out

Safety measures, such as doors that lock automatically, have finally gotten the better of me. Nothing like locking your keys (including car keys, apartment keys, work keys, etc) in the laundry room mid day on a Monday. Luckily, I was not locked out of my apartment. Today's new activity: stalking neighbors or resulting to calling my manager and coughing up $25 to recover the keys. Guess it's time to make spares.

Monkey Wrench

I am proud to report I made car repairs over the weekend, without the help
of a mechanic. On Friday night, my friend's car overheated and she was
left stranded. The cause seemed to be the large hole in the hose going
from the engine to the radiator (surely there is a technical name for this
hose, but I don't know what it is). Instead of calling a tow truck and
paying a shop to do the repairs, we rolled on into Shuck's on Saturday
morning, showed them this picture, bought the necessary parts, and some
coolant for only $39! The only tools required were a screwdriver and exacto knife. In less than 30 minutes her car was back on the road. Repairs made to my car: new
headlight and fixed the license plate.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog. Stay tuned for more entries.