A Year Ago, Saturday

On Saturday, Josh and I celebrate the one year of living in Seattle. Last year on August 6th, we unlocked the door to our West Queen Anne apartment. We are still happily living in the same apartment today. And to answer the question I know that is on your mind right now...yes, we are happy we moved here despite the gloom and rain (especially considering it was one of the yuckiest winters here in a long time - according to all the Seattle locals).

You may remember my post: Play by Play. Or my Flickr album. Ahh the memories of packing and unpacking. Or should I say nightmares...mwahahaha. I am certainly glad I'm not moving again this year. Moving two years in a row is not something I want to repeat anytime soon. I am a settler and I like to settle.

Josh and I want to thank all the friends and family that  have supported us in the move and transition. A lot has happened in the past year and we couldn't have done it without you guys. Also, a note to our new Seattle friends: We love you guys too. Okay, my girl scout spirit is shining now and I have to say it...Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. I know, now go watch Troop Beverly Hills.

Now, COME VISIT. It's been a year already!

Little Dumplings

Last Friday, while I was down in the warm, sunshine of Pasadena, I had my first dumplings. And this wasn't at just any dumpling place. Apparently, this is THE dumpling place, Din Tai Fung Dumpling House. It's a little restaurant hidden in Arcadia of all places. What where we doing in Arcadia, you say? Eating dumplings! (And the fact that we were on our way south to Encinitas).

I have to be honest, I wasn't sure about this whole dumpling thing. Ravolis without sauce? How good could that be? And eating just a bunch of dumplings? Is that even filling? But Lindsay insisted that they were good little dumplings. I would not be disappointed....and, I wasn't.

I didn't just get to digg in to these dumplings. They had a whole system there that I had never seen before. You put your name in and you get a menu and a ticket. While you wait, you fill in your order (e.g. the item and quantity). When you get to your seat, you hand over your menu. Then you get a letter and another checklist. As they bring the different items to you, they circle what they brought. Repeat until you've received all your food. Interesting system.

What we orders: Pork dumplings, Veggie Dumplings, and 2 Pork-Veggie buns. Yes, we like pork. Yes, we like veggies. Deal with it. Look yummy dumplings. And in case we didn't know how to eat, we are even given instructions on our chopstick wrapper...(they should add: worse case scenario, use fingers).



Look at us use those chopsticks...what skills.



Next Up: Learn why I was down in SoCal in the first place...

Lift Your Spirits

Yes, raise your glass and lift up your spirit. That's what Josh and I did this evening to help us with the Sunday night blues. But there is more to this post than that....

It actually all starts with passing a building that has a large octopus holding a bottle painted on it several times a week. It's of no surprise to me that Josh was the first to notice this octopus. I think anything with a large octopus painted on it would grab Josh's attention. Why we never stopped until now, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the rain. I like to blame everything on the rain. It's a good excuse, especially in Seattle.

The story goes that we meant to stop by last weekend, but we couldn't remember the exact stop and I whizzed right by it. We were both tired and wanting to get home, so we didn't bother turning around. But then this weekend, things were different. Yesterday the sun shone a bit, and we were just cruzin' to some Weezer, and thought...we should stop at the big octopus. And it just so happens we were on that road.

So we stopped and walked in. The were more octopus decorating. Sweet. Better yet, the owner was at the back talking about and serving their locally made vodka, gin, and some other liquor (I can't remember it). We tasted the vodka first and we were amazed at the flavor--a bit oaky with a hint of vanilla.Then we tried the gin.

Now, I'm not usually a big gin fan. I think it's like drinking a pine forest. However, this gin some actually pretty good with an herb-citrus taste. As we tasted, we also learned some interesting trivia. For instance Sound Spirits, the distillery we were at, produces the first spirits to be distilled in Seattle since Prohibition.

Should we buy a bottle? We thought and came up with many reason towards YES. (1) We were impressed with the flavors...very different (2) we were in need of something for cool drinks at home. (3) We were having a good day. (4) We wanted to support the local business. (5) It's an OCTOPUS. So yes, we purchased the vodka.

Tonight was the big trial. We bought some very special tonic water that Josh has always wanted to buy, Q Tonic (doesn't it look fancy?). We bought some limes. We broke out the ice. Voila! A vodka tonic. Yum. Something to help our Sunday blues. Sigh. HooHumm.

New Things

Lately I've been trying some new things. Crazy, right? For a gal that likes to order the same thing at a particular restaurant, or could eat the same cereal for years. Crazy. Here's a few new things I've tried:

Amazon Fresh - This is for the elite part of the country, the special folks that endure rain and gray for three-fourths of the year; this is for Seattleites. Basically, it's a service out of Amazon, which is headquarters in Seattle. You can order your groceries online and then have them delivered right to your doorstep. We've tried the pre-dawn delivery, so they are at your doorstep when you wake up. You open your door and voila, groceries are in crate for you to drag inside and put away. You might be asking the question I asked myself, "what about frozen foods?" Easy. They have some crates with the cooler inside or those special bags that keep food cold. The prices aren't bad and it's super convenient. I'm just not sure if I can give up Trader Joes entirely. We think this will be for weekend where I run out of time to go grocery shopping, or returning from a weekend getaway.



Lunchbox Laboratory - Yum. Burgers. Fries. Shakes. We've been meaning to try this place for a while and finally did on Saturday. I wanted to go to REI and it's just a block away. Although burgers is their thing, I tried their veggie burger. Now, I DON'T like the garden burgers or boca burger things. Yuck. I did, however, like this one. It reminded me of Cornucopia in Eugene. It was black bean based and super delicious. Josh got a special with carnitas. He also had an awesomely thick and delicious strawberry shake.



Intelligentsia - How intelligent of us to try Intelligentsia. It was light, no really, the color was a lighter brown. But yes. It also had a lighter taste, or delicate. I also like the packaging. A nice morning wake-up call.

Pasta Dish - OMG. This is the new dish for us. I tend to find a dish that I just love and I make it every other week. The equation: easy to make + very delicious + cheap + good as leftovers = a keeper recipe. This is it. It's like my straw and hay pasta, but for spring/summer (straw and hay is more fall/winter). Drumroll please...Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Prosciutto. Get the recipe and try it yourself.

Everyday People

Lately, I've been leading a very everyday kind of life...seeing friends, working, driving around, enjoying sun, grouchy about it raining...things that are everyday, but you never really write about much. Josh and I are just everyday people.

Here's an everyday kind of photo collage:



Everyday stuff is in this collage (all taken with my iPhone, an everyday device):

Work - This past week I headed down to the bay area for work. My team member was on vacation and I was covering her work. We thought it'd be beneficial for me to cover her work in the office since the stage of the project was an in-person type stage. So, that's what I did...went down to Foster City. I do enjoy the visits since in the evenings I get to catch up with friends. I met up with my friend Lara, an ex-Acxiom worker, and also "the gang." See the center photo - that's "the gang!"

Friends - We also have meet up with friends. In fact, I discovered a new frozen yogurt place in Green Lake called Zoe Yogurt. See upper left and lower left & right photos. This is Zoe. Yum. Josh is in the middle of a very serious explanation of some sort in his picture. Katherine and Ryan are pointing at a kid terrorizing a dog in the top picture.

Commuting Around - I drive around to appointment a bunch. Over to University District (aka U-District) the majority of the time. Unfortunately I must cross the water to get to that side and that means a bridge. In the winter the bridge doesn't go up that much. However, in good weather, it goes up and down quite a bit. It's annoying. Very annoying. The traffic gets all backed up and you have to sit there and wait. And wait. And wait. At first, when we first moved here, I though the bridges were cool. Now, they are lame.

Weather - As you can see in the collage, the sun has made an appearance in Seattle. It's been a long, drawn out winter. And some days we are still seeing gloomy weather and rain. But now, the humdrum is interspersed with some sun. A little reprieve from the gray color that's everywhere. I must say, when the sun is out in Seattle, it's glorious. Glorious. (Feel free to say "glorious" like Will Ferrell in Old School).

Hotels - This sort of belongs up with work, but since it has it's own pictures, I thought I'd put it below. My bay area hotel gave me, and I quote, "the second best room in the hotel." I get to my room and see I have an entire conference room in my suite. It felt awkward so I just closed the door. Pretty funny though.

Parks and Such

For many people, Memorial Day weekend is the first holiday day off since February. This segment of people includes Josh and me. All I can say is, "at last!" We didn't do a whole lot, but we had a very nice weekend in Seattle. This lovely weekend included:

A long walk on a sunny Saturday. Josh had the idea of crossing this bridge that we've seen from the road we  often take downtown. We thought we cross it and explore. And we did just that. We crossed the bridge which we found out was called the Helix Bridge (so named because it was built by Amgen, a biotech company). It took us over the train tracks to to...drumroll please...a beautiful park!



We walked along the water and enjoyed the sunshine. And then we walked some more. Then we continued to walk until we reached the SAM Sculpture Park. I've been wanted to check this park out for a while, but every time I think of it, it's raining. We saw some interesting sculptures and some interesting people (wait, that's us!).



Since we walked this far already, we decided why not continue to Pike Place Market. Once we got there, we thought we'd just continue along to a downtown restaurant we've been wanting to test out. Finally we reached the restaurant and rested our feet. We enjoyed a tasty meal at Lecosho. Then we walked back. Needless to say, my feet hurt by the end. I took my shoes off and walked in the grass half of the way back.

Another park & Sea planes. This park wasn't quite the walk as the Elliott Bay Park, but we got to watch some sea planes take off and land. I think Josh could stand there and watch much longer than me. I think about 3 minutes is good. There were also lots of roaming geese (and some baby geese) which also meant a lot of bird poop. Watch where you step at this park!



There were also some cool old ships. I think there was some more history behind these ships, but I didn't really read the sign. It was Monday and the holiday weekend was coming to a close & I had the "Sunday blues."

Ate some cake. Josh and I went to Macrina and tried some cakes for you-know-what. The cakes were okay. Nothing spectacular, so we're going with something else...and that you'll just have to wait to find out.

And that, my friends, is about it. Some parks, some planes, some cake. A nice Memorial Day weekend.

See Heather Work

I've been at my "new" job working from home for about 3 months now and yet I have yet to share with you my at-home office. Little did we know that when we chose the place to live that two bedrooms would be necessary. Luckily, we did chose a 2-bedroom place. Now, the second bedroom is my dedicated, work-from-home office. I got all sorts of cute things - like the floral, and very feminine trays and desk organizers (note: I didn't buy from the site I just hyperlinked--found it cheaper at Storables!).



You can see I have a white, blue, metal theme going, so let's call it: Urban Feminine. I like my desk, but I do spend a bit too much time at it. Wink Wink.

Here's the bigger picture view of the desk:



Yes, my desktop wallpaper is the Seattle Space Needle. No, I didn't take that picture, although I wish I did. The wall has a cool glass whiteboard from IKEA and a sleek bulletin board from Crate & Barrel.

And that my friends, is my work place.

Not the End of the World

Well the world did not end yesterday. Whew, what a relief! I didn't get quite everything done that I'd hope. Try as I might, I still have way too much to do, and want to do, before our world goes away.

What are somethings I did do? Well, here's a few:

1. Finished a Book: A newfound friend of mine, Katy, she's a recent Seattle transport from Eugene too, recommended a book to me. The book she recommended and the book I finished was called Alice I have Been. First of all, I found this to be a very interesting book. I always enjoy a book that is based off something people know about, but add a twist - like a childhood story or a historical event. This was based on true events (mostly) and very well written. You know when a book is well written when after you finished reading for the moment, your mind is thinking in the same writing style. Or maybe that's just me. After I read, sometimes I start thinking like the book is written. That's a good sign for me that I'm enjoying the book. Another sign is when I stay up way to late reading. Which I did with this one. I read it in two weeks, which is pretty fast for me when I'm busy working (and it's been busy at work). I laughed, cried, and got frustrated as I read this one. I love books that get you so involved that you have a mix of emotions. This wasn't a happy-go-lucky book, but definitely has an different twist to it. I say it's definitely worth the read!

2. Ate some delicious Pie: Josh and I are big-time planning for the wedding these days. Some parts of the planning are more fun then others. For instance, pie tasting! We are probably going with a something different than cake for our wedding...PIE! Our wedding is a fall, Seattle themed wedding (yes, Seattle fall is the theme) so we thought pie would be fitting. Plus, wedding cake is not always that great (frozen and then defrosted, bleh). Pie is fruity and good. It has fruit, so it must be good for you. We thought pie would be fun. And pie was definitely fun to taste! This place in West Seattle was very good indeed.



3. Went to the Beach: West Seattle has some beaches that I can imagine will be great in the summer. It is still a bit cold here and not totally spring/summer yet. We have had some occasional sun and one really nice, warm (warm for me now is 70) weather (warm for me in the past was 80/90...Pacific NW has changed this Cali girl).



4. Started Season 4 of Mad Men: This Netflix disc has been sitting here for a while. It's a Josh & Heather watch together series so I can't watch it without him around. However, he just has NOT been around. He's been traveling - New Jersey, Chicago, Germany - for work. We finally sat down and watched two episodes last night. Now, if only True Blood and How I Met Your Mother would come out with their recently seasons.

5. Saw the sun again in Seattle: I'll just say this, it's been a long winter here. Sun is not so shiney yet.



6. Make some pork chops. Tasty too. Not dried out. Good recipe. And I made some pasta shells. These are always a winner with this recipe.

Now that I know the world isn't over, I did do a few more things just in case. Such as:

1. Tried out Shellac nails: Shellac is the newest thing to the nail industry...it lasts 2-3 weeks with no chipping! Plus it dries instantly, so no smudges. Awesome! I wanted to try it out because my finger nails chip the first day, so I basically stopped getting them painted. Not to mention, I'm super impatient and always smudge them. However, I'm very excited about my Shellac nails and they are super girly, springy pink. I'll keep you posted on how this goes. Today is Day 1. I got them done this morning at Hoa Salon in Ballard. They were so nice there. I even got a shoulder/neck massage as they put my nails under the magic machine thing.



2. Walked the farmers market: After my relaxing, indulging time at the nail salon, I walked around the Ballard Farmers Market. I love this market. I petted a few dogs (a golden, two Akitas, and a mutt), tasting some goodies (applies, juices, bread), ate pizza, and enjoyed the semi-sunny weather. I bought myself some treats too. Pumpkin muffin from Grateful Bread Co. Hard Berry Cider from Rockridge Orchards. And 2 crunchy, spicy Aztec apples. Go Market! (Do you like the photo? I used Instagram).



3. Make some Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread: I can smell it now. I just pulled it out of the oven. Hopefully it's as good as it smells. It's from a recent blog that started following...Joy the Baker. I mean her name is Joy. It was meant for me to follow.

4. Finally Wrote another Post: Sorry, I really have been too busy. Work + Wedding + Life = No posts lately. I'll try harder.

Pull Over

Yes, sometimes you have to pull over. I'm not talking about cops (but yes, you should pull over for them). I'm talking about soaking in the beauty of the day. Or stop and smell the roses as the saying goes...

Yesterday I was driving around a part of town I haven't ventured into much, West Seattle. I was there to treat myself to a facial since Josh was out of town for the weekend (I got it off Groupon - love it). Anyways, afterwards I looked off to the distance and had to drive towards it. It was Puget Sound in all it's glory. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in this and that and checking off your to-do list, that you forget to stop and enjoy the beauty of the city. And let me tell you, I think Seattle is gorgeous! All that rain adds a bit of mystery and character to it (and not to mention, green and trees).

And pull over is what I did. The first pull over was after I saw awesome cloudy and a little aqua water in the distance. I drove towards it and ended up walking along the water for a few minutes (even though it was raining). Here's a quick shot I took.



And then I turned around and as I was driving home, I looked over and saw the city skyline. I quickly pulled over as there was a viewpoint. And took this picture:



Darn it! I should ALWAYS carry my camera with me. But my iPhone did a decent job, don't you think?

And the beauty doesn't stop there. I took this photo as I looked out the window from our home - from inside my at-home office.

Hippy Hop

The #1 thing this Easter has over last Easter...I'm not working. You might remember that last Easter I was working at Eugene Starbucks making pastel colored lattes. That's a good start; no work!

This Easter weekend has been pretty low key. It's too bad yesterday wasn't today, or even better, too bad both days this weekend weren't like yesterday...sunshine and *practically* warm. It was the first day all year that we've had the chance to sit outside and eat lunch without a jacket!

Today has been mostly Seattle gloom weather with spots of rain. Typical. However, no weather can put a damper on Easter. We certainly celebrated. We went to a mega service for our church. I mean m-e-g-a -- as in so big that the church had to rent out Qwest Field, one of the big Seattle stadiums. Josh sums it up from his comment while we were there, "we go to a big church." We sure do! It was fun though, because everyone there is there to celebrate. Kinda cool.

And this is quite a bit different from Bethlehem Church and our songs, like Every Morning is Easter Morning.



After church, Josh and I enjoyed our little gifts from the Easter Bunny. The little bird will chirp in the palm of your hand. If you rub your hands, it chirps faster (heat activated). We had to test it out...it does chirp less if you run your hands in cold water first too. Guess who gave us that birdie! I'll give you a hint, it starts with a J.



But what is Easter really about? Not gifts. What does Jim Gaffigan have to say?



That's right Jimmy, I love bunnies and eggs. You can tell from my favorite childhood Easter book, The Count Bunny. It's such a cute book. I thought the special egg was so cool and I wanted one.



And I'll never forget my favorite Easter sport, egg hunts with Grandma Ruth. Oh, and trying to find the Easter baskets in the morning based off a trail of eggs from the bedroom. Ahh fun times.

Happy Easter!!

Almost Heaven

I saw strawberries at the grocery store and the idea hit: Angel Food Cake. How heavenly! I love me some angel cake with strawberries and whip cream. Oh so heavenly. And it fits since I'm so angelic-like, right? Just joking.

So I bought those strawberries. And then I bought some mix. Voila, a dessert from heaven and made by angels (aka me). And to me, this is Spring in a box. Although it's dreary outside, a bit of spring inside doesn't hurt.

To start, I have the utensils and mix.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Next you get things mixing. Look at that dollop of happiness. My Grandma Norma always told me that you had to mix longer than the box says, you must get that stiff batter. That's an insider tip. That and she had a brand that she always used. I think it was Betty Crocker, but really it may have been Duncan Hines. Darn my memory!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Then you stick it in the oven to cook things up. And flop it upside down. Don't want it to get sunken. That would be drab. And you trust the angels (see the bottle says TRUST) that it won't topple over.



Now you celebrate and feel like a Angel Queen.



Last you look at the delicious cake and EAT IT.



Now you wish you had some. It's easy...go do it!

And that, my friends, is how exciting my life is right now. That plus a bit of work. But keep any eye out because something exciting is happening this weekend and I'll be sure to share. Stay tuned!

Busy Right Now

Alright; I feel horrible. Slap my wrists. I've been such a bad blogger lately. I've missed so many topics to write about and now it just seems silly to go back and write. Sigh. I'm going to try and be better. Honestly, I've just been busy. Busy with work. Busy with wedding planning. Busy with home stuff. Busy with this. Busy with that. Just plain busy. And when I'm not busy, I'm tired or out doing something.

Work: This is one major busy. I started at the end of February and it seems like I've never left. It is a different experience this time around though. For one, I'm working from home. This is actually working out pretty well for me besides the lack of human contact sometimes. I still get up and get dressed. Yes, it's tempting to stay in my PJs all day, but to really get up and going, I need to get into clothes.

I also get to see the client every week. I get out of the house and some human interaction. Awesome. It's actually fun to be able to see the client and get to know them better. Not to mention the beautiful view I get to see from the 23rd floor.

Wedding: Another top busy. This is like a job in itself. Emailing people. Researching vendors. Finding ideas. Meeting vendors to see if its a fit. Making decisions. Managing a budget.

Ahh busy. Sorry I've been delinquent blogger. I'm just busy right now. Okay? (<-- that's where I got the blog title idea)



The views really are quite nice...this photo doesn't do it justice. I just get embarrassed pulling out my iPhone to take a picture in a business building.

Paddy Day

Poor Patrick became Paddy. How'd that happen? How did Paddy come from Patrick? There must be a story about that. It makes me think of Paddy cake the hand clapping game.

I wore my green today and my Irish jewelry. At one point in life I was receiving lots of Irish jewelry especially stuff with the claddagh. I had to deck out because this is my last year with the last name O'Neill. Next year it'll be Brown.

I wanted to inspire you with the holiday with some awesome information. I read a bit on my favorite wikipedia site and searched St Patrick's Day. Fun fact for you - I learned the shamrock was used by Saint Patrick to teach the trinity in Ireland. Did you know that? Woohoo, new information for you! Another fun fact: If I had been born a boy, my name would have been: Patrick John O'Neill. Now that's Irish. I'd bleed green I think (or Guinness). I mean take a look at my grandma - and she's not even the Irish side (don't tell her I said that...):



Today I ate a corn beef sandwich to celebrate. I didn't have brown bread though. I wish there was brown bread instead of soda bread around the stores. It's all over in Ireland. It would have made the sandwich that much more Irish. Sigh. I guess I could have made it (see hyperlink earlier), but that's a lot of work. Trader Joe's leaven bread did the trick this time. I thought of taking a photo of my sandwich and then was too hungry and ate it instead. Just use your imagination.

Also, we had the luck of the Irish in Seattle today because it was the first day with no rain in weeks. The sun was shining; it was beautiful.

I don't want to bore you, so you can read more about St Patrick's Day from last year's post - much more interesting. Or check out this O'Neill website.

Collections

I was trying to come up with something witty to say about collections, so I went onto Wikipedia to see if I could get some inspiration. What I found was that there are lots of definitions for collection, yet not really seemed to fit the type of collection I was going to write about. Is my definition of collection totally off base? Did I not learn something in elementary school? Crazy.

Now I got your curiosity! Go on, check it out. I'll make it easy for you...here's the link. But come back to my blog, to hear about my collection.

I'm thinking about starting a collection. I wish I made this decision a long time ago because my collection would have been much more diverse and vast. There would be oodles and oodles of places I visited represented in...wait for it...MUGS! Specially Starbucks mugs. I know this is a common thing to collect, but they're cool. (1) They are trendy and stylist, (2) They are the perfect size for a morning coffee or tea, (3) they can be awesome souvenirs, and (4) I did work there and it is now permanently and undeniably a part of my life. Sadly, I have some problems with this collection, (1) it takes up lots of space in the cabinet, (2) what about all my other mugs, they'll feel neglected and forgotten. I love some of my other mugs. I guess the pros outweigh the cons.

This is the start of my collection. Yes, there are two Seattle mugs. I like the architecture mug (that's what it's called at Starbucks). It has cools facts on the back. For instance: Elevation: 14' Above Sea Level, Avg. Annual Rainfall: 37.07 in. Ave Daily Temp Jan., 40.1F and July 65.2F



Let's give some of my mugs some love. Here's a fond memory. Josh and I's first big vacation together - England. These mugs we bought in London. They are representing the Underground's Circle and Central lines. Cute!



Then there are the mugs Don Brown made for us. We used these tons. I don't drink out of the one with me on it - that's Josh's cup. Mine is the scenery mug.



And the random cups. One from my friend Kim in Eugene. The other I love the phrase - I gave it to Josh during law school.



Or maybe I should totally change course and just start a sticker collection. Not just an ordinary sticker collection, but a cool Seattle sticker collection.

Sneak Preview

The weekend right before I started working was beautiful. The sun was out, it was a tad bit warmer temperatures, people were out and about -- I was giddy about it all. Josh was sick, and I wanted to get out, so I went to University Village, an outdoor mall near, surprisingly enough, the University of Washington. I love this mall because it has flowers and cute paths which makes me want to skip around in glee. I like walking around malls even though I don't buy stuff. I like to pretend and live in my imaginary world -- especially in Pottery Barn.

Now back to the purpose of this post, flowers. I saw some lovely flowers and felt it was a sneak preview into spring -- don't get too excited my spring chickens, it's definitely not spring yet. I repeat, it's definitely, definitely winter. Today is a prime example: rain, strong, strong winds, hail, a peek of sun, rain, more rain, clouds, darkness (but clear, however, clear means cold temps). I thought I'd share my sneak preview with you.

Don't these flowers look like they are saying, "hello sunshine! We missed you!"




 

These say, "we twinkle with glee."




 

Little bells of happiness...



I love flowers. No wonder my name is a flower. Heather. Note: You will read on the hyperlinked site that Heather "can survive in some very harsh territory." Also, I'm a very versatile flower.

Ring Ring

Ring Ring Ring went the new mobile phone. You have to sing that sentence like this song because that's how it goes in my head. You don't have to say anything, I'm strange, I know.

Why is the above strange re-mix going in my head? Well folks, I got a new iPhone. Sadly I somehow lost or someone stole my iPhone. I believe it was stolen or found and then used; just a gut feeling. Anyway, I NEEDED a phone. I felt so empty and alone without my phone. I'd be walking along and reach into my purse for NOTHING. Weird feeling to be out there in the world without a phone or Internet. Crazy how it is. If you told me I'd be like this in high school or around that time, I would have laughed in disbelief.

Within a few days, I was sporting a new iPhone 4 with a pink & brown case. Don't you dare say something like, "you know the iPhone 5 is probably being release this summer." No. Don't. Bup bup bup. I can't hear you. Anyway, if you always waiting for the next, new release in technology you'd never get anything.

I sent an email out to you all a couple of days ago with my new number. Josh has a new number too. We're both Seattle area codes now. It's official, I have a WA license, license plate, and  phone number. Didn't get that mail?? Then let me know.



Give me a ring!!

Good Eats

I thought I'd do a random post about Josh and his eats, or should I say Good Eats. My Good Eats is two fold - (1) I'm referring to the television show that Josh watches on the Food Network with Alton Brown called Good Eats - he has the cookbook, and (2) the big smile that comes across Josh's face when he chows down on good eats.

The thought came to blog about this today when we got some lunch. We didn't want anything big and it was already 2pm, so we thought we'd check out the food truck nearby in Ballard. Josh loves food trucks. Seattle loves food trucks. Portland excels at food trucks and stands. It's popular these days. Anyway, today's truck was a Josh paradise because it serves...wait for it...wait for it some more...Mexican food.

It's called El Camion. Josh's mouth watered when we saw words like gorditas, tamales, and burritos. Even more so when he saw chorizo.

Look at that smile. Isn't he cute? See how happy he is?



Look he's picking up the food. See his little head through the windows?



Actually, I have a confession. I like to surprise Josh while he's eating and take a quick photo. We get lots of random pictures of him eating. Check this one out. We're with my friend Irene at Three Girl Bakery at Pike Place Market. I think he's eating a reuben or meatloaf sandwich.



Or this shot of him eating a beignet at Where Ya At Matt food truck.



Some ice cream at Molly Moons (which also had a truck visiting Queen Anne last week - we ate it in the freezing cold).



He couldn't resist the BBQ at Ro Ro's. I had to get a shot of this one.



But in all fairness, I have photos eating too...(I make Josh take them - hehe)!

Official Washingtonian

Yup, it's official. I'm a Washingtonian and a Seattleite. I had today off and Josh was working, so I thought I'd take some time to go to all those places that we never want to visit...in this case, the DMV. I was pretty impressed with the experience though. I got to the DMV counter with only a 15 minute wait. The process was fairly simple. The only troublesome part was that the location I visited only did licensing, not license plates. I had to go to another place for that. The license plate wasn't hard either though. They got me in and out under 10 minutes. Overall, no the long lines and waiting I'm used to. Hurray. Points for Seattle.



Now that I'm a Washingtonian, I feel I should learn more about the state. I'm not a native, so I didn't learn all the state history and facts in elementary school. I know all about California (thanks Mom and 4th Grade), but Washington...not so much. I took it upon myself to do a bit of research.

I've shared some of my findings here on the post. I would like to say that I did learn a lot about Washington, true or not, on the Underground Tour I took when my friend Irene visited. Bill Speidel gives a pretty darn good history lesson.

Here's an abbreviated list of Washington State Symbols:

• Fruit: Apple


• Flower: Pacific Rhododendron


• Bird: Willow Goldfinch


• Fish: Steelhead Trout


• Bug: Green Darner Dragonfly


• Veggie: Walla Walla Sweet Onion

Learn more about Washington on Wikipedia or find out some fun facts.

You'll see Seattleite hyperlinked above. The definition there is pretty accurate and funny. I think #4, #5, and #8 are pretty true...Check them out:

1. Any person living in, or within ten miles of The city of Seattle, WA


2. Is easily agitated when tourist asks to see the original Starbucks, Microsoft or Kurt Cobain's house. True Seattleites do not care for these things.


3. Considers Seattle to be the best city on Earth.


4. Is a pretentious coffee snob due to the thousands of delicious coffee houses and rostaries that surround them.


5. Any person who knows not to visit Pike Place Market on a Saturday.


6. Any person who was disappointed by EMP (unlike the inbred hicks from across the country who come to visit it).


7. Anybody who knows that "eating dicks" means eating burgers.


8. Any person that hates it when Californians drive through Washington and cry about the rain and the cold.


9. Typically a city that is completely devoid of soccer moms.

The Little Honda That Could

"I think I can I think I can!" That was my motto trying to drive up a steep hill in SNOW last night.

Last night it started snowing again while I was merrily closing the store. Somehow I had forgotten the past snow storm and was like a little girl marveling at the snow. My coworker and I were happy since it was a so evening and we got the store closed on time. I should have connected the dots - snow = people go home early slash don't go out.

After closing the store, I wanted to my car that was safely parked in a covered spot. La la la la. I thought to myself, "oh it's not really sticking to the ground. It's so pretty." La la la la. Snap a shot of it falling with my iPhone:



I get into my car and call Josh to let him know to start heating dinner up. I say, "Hey, it's snowing!" Josh replied, "What?!?" Apparently he hadn't gotten up from his work desk in a while. "Yea, it's been coming down for a while now, but it's not really sticking." Josh warns, "be careful going up the big hill (that we must take to get home - it's Queen Anne for ya)." Nonchalantly, I promise, "oh yea, I'll be careful. It's not that bad."

My first taste of the snow driving comes when I go to brake. By the way, the snow is actually sticking now that I'm not right dab in the center of downtown. I apply the brakes since the light is red. However, the car is not stopping! What! Ahh! I press harder hoping to stop. No-oo! Staring to panic, but luckily I had given myself enough space that it finally stopped without hitting the car in front of me. Whew! I think to myself, "That was too close. I better drive slower!"

So I chug along the route home going about 20 - 30 miles an hour. I realize that it's really quite slippery. I start to worry about the hill. I approach my turn off and see that there are not that many tire marks in the snow. I worry about traction since I have no chains. I wonder, "How is this going to go?"

I get to the light that I turn to go up. I stop and think, "I think I can I think I can. Here goes nothing." I start up the hill slowly. I make it a fourth of the way up and then my car starts resisting and making a roaring sound without going anywhere. Flashes of my car sliding backwards or spinning race through my head. I start to sweat in my large jacket. I apply more to the gas. I start to crunch up some more, then I get stuck again. I put my car in park and call Josh frantically. "I'm stuck, I don't know what to do. I'm stuck. What do I do? What do I do?" Josh calmly talks to me and we decide I should park. I put him on speaker and go to give it a try.

My foot is shaking. And not just a tremor, but it's actually moving back and forth and I can't control it. I can barely keep it on the gas petal. The adrenaline is coursing through me. I start to turn to the side of the road, but I only get partially there. Josh asks if it's a safe spot. And it's really not. We decide to try to get the rest of the 3/4 of the way up the hill to park on level ground.

To help with traction, I get out of the car and shuffle my feet to melt the snow and create a path for my wheels. I get back in to give it a try. Again my foot is spasming. I put my car in low, low gear, and gently apply the gas. My car starts to go super fast towards the curb (and tree). Luckily, by some random spark of intelligence, I decide to let the car roll and then it settled and I turn the wheels upward and try. It crunches, it resists, it makes crazy sounds. A guy walking down the hill stops to watch me. But I make it. I make it to the top! I put around the corner and park. Deep breath!

Although I only made it up the first part of the hill (note: the hill goes up, levels off for a few feet at 12th St, and then goes up again and levels at 13th St, and so on and so forth). I made it up to 12th Street. I consider briefly about going for the win, but decide it's too risky. I get out and walk the way home in the snow.

Now it's the next morning and I'm typing this post. The rain has returned and the snow is slowly melting. I'm not looking forward to walking back to my car to go to work. Sigh. At least I go home.

What now? I'm going to buy some chains, and there is a back up plan for getting home. We will by pass the hill and go around to the other side of the hill and park in the gravel lot.

This is the hill taken today as I walked back to my car. The snow was practically gone since it started to rain in the wee hours of the morning...

Stylish Me

This Friday I got a new style. Nothing totally crazy
because (A) I have to keep it long-ish to put it up in a cool "do"
at my wedding, and (B) I'm a bit of a wuss. However, to jazz it up
I added a few copper highlights. With some framing cuts on the
sides and layers all around, I came out looking shiny and new. I
tried a new place this time - my second visit to a hairdresser here
in Seattle - called Source. It's in trendy Ballard area. The al
that did my hair was nice (although not the super talkative hair
dresser type), but the best part was her rates were super and she
did a great job. Big Puntos! Anyhow, here's a self portrait: class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Small" title="Heather's New Hair Cut"
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alt="Heather's New Hair Cut" width="240" height="180"
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href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/honeill/5337299685/">