Friday, April 25, 2008
The Pacific Northwest
I just spent a week in the Pacific North West and let me tell you, it was fanfreakingtastic! The weather was perfect and the land was beautiful. I started out in Seattle, WA visiting my dear Little Trucker friend Hayley and ended in Eugene, OR where I taught a genealogy workshop for the Oregon state Daughters of the American Revolution. I’d forgotten how much I love the west coast. Don’t get me wrong I still love my east coast home, but there’s just something that feels like home about the west coast. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. It would take way too long and be very boring to give you all the details of the trip so I’ve decided to give 10 highlights. (This may also be long and boring anyway) Here goes...
10. My bologna has a first name its M-A-Y-E-R – Yes folks that is right, I saw the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. It was just parked at the beach like any other car. No one in it and no hot dogs for sale. I made Hayley pull over and I jumped out to get a picture.
9. Mariners 8, Angels 3, Travis 0 – Hayley got us tickets to watch the Seattle Mariners beat the LA Angels at Safeco Field Saturday night. I love a good baseball game. We had pretty good seats and there happened to be 2 young single guys next to us. After a few beers one of them, Travis, got up the courage to start hitting on me. It just so happened that we were wearing the exact same shade of kelly green shirt. After a solid 7 innings of flirtations and despite his beautiful green eyes, I did not consent to go to the bar with Travis after the game and he left with his buddies. Better luck next time Pal!
8. The troll under the bridge - in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle there is a giant troll sculpture that lives under the Aurora Bridge. I thought this was pure artistic genius. It’s the head and arms of a ghoulish figure clutching a real VW Beetle. A troll under a bridge!
7. Cruising PCH - Driving up the Oregon Coast along Highway 101 was amazing! It is so beautiful. The houses, the trees, the wilderness, the beaches, the cliffs, the wind, the salty air. It was simply beautiful I could’ve sat and enjoyed it all for hours. Oh wait I did and I loved it!
6. G-Doggy Dog - There’s something about eating brunch on a sidewalk table outside a French café on a beautiful morning that screams metropolitan. I met my dear friend and roommate of former years, Gina Jung, at Le Pichet to catch up and enjoy a delicious meal. It’s always good to see an old friend especially one like Gina. She’s one of a kind. We followed our chitchat and meal with a little taste of heaven. Hayley had read about the chocolate dessert at La Pichet, which was why we’d come. It did not disappoint. It was a thick, rich chocolate soup with a side of heavy whipped cream. Sigh, I still dream about it.
5. What a view! - Not far from the Fremont Troll in Seattle is the neighborhood of Queen Anne which boasts the very best views of Seattle. Hayley took me here to show me her Seattle. It was a beautiful clear day and we could see everything. "The mountains were out" and Rainier was majestic. Seattle is a beautiful city.
4. Sunset on Alki Beach - The sunsets on the West Coast are amazing. I'd forgotten about how beautiful they can be over the ocean. Hayley was showing me Alki Beach when the sun started setting. I made her pull over and we marveled over the beauty of the day, took pictures, and tried not to burn our retinas by staring too long at the sun.
3. Rows and rows of brilliantly colored tulips - Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, holds an annual tulip festival the entire month of April. This was right up my alley A. Flowers 2. Festival D. Outside! 3 thing I adore! It was beautiful! Only a 1/3 of the tulips were in bloom, but that was plenty. There were tulips of every variety and color. I wanted to pick them all.
2. Pike Place Market - When anyone talks about Seattle they talk about Pike Place Market. There is a reason for that: its totally awesome, hello! I LOVED it. It was a lot bigger than I imagined and everything you can think of was being sold somewhere. I tasted everything I could and it was delicious. I saw a man with an opossum on his shoulder. I got a free hug. I watched the famous fish guys toss fish to each other. I ate the worlds best mac and cheese. I saw the original Starbucks. I added gum to the gum wall. I saw a man telling cats' fortunes. I bought some Seattle art. I loved it.
1. Hayley! - With all the great things I did and saw, the very best part of my trip was hanging out with my great friend Hayley. She is fantastic and we really miss her out in DC. I'm so glad that we are friends. She's brave and strong and so much fun. THANK YOU HAYLEY!
10. My bologna has a first name its M-A-Y-E-R – Yes folks that is right, I saw the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. It was just parked at the beach like any other car. No one in it and no hot dogs for sale. I made Hayley pull over and I jumped out to get a picture.
9. Mariners 8, Angels 3, Travis 0 – Hayley got us tickets to watch the Seattle Mariners beat the LA Angels at Safeco Field Saturday night. I love a good baseball game. We had pretty good seats and there happened to be 2 young single guys next to us. After a few beers one of them, Travis, got up the courage to start hitting on me. It just so happened that we were wearing the exact same shade of kelly green shirt. After a solid 7 innings of flirtations and despite his beautiful green eyes, I did not consent to go to the bar with Travis after the game and he left with his buddies. Better luck next time Pal!
8. The troll under the bridge - in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle there is a giant troll sculpture that lives under the Aurora Bridge. I thought this was pure artistic genius. It’s the head and arms of a ghoulish figure clutching a real VW Beetle. A troll under a bridge!
7. Cruising PCH - Driving up the Oregon Coast along Highway 101 was amazing! It is so beautiful. The houses, the trees, the wilderness, the beaches, the cliffs, the wind, the salty air. It was simply beautiful I could’ve sat and enjoyed it all for hours. Oh wait I did and I loved it!
6. G-Doggy Dog - There’s something about eating brunch on a sidewalk table outside a French café on a beautiful morning that screams metropolitan. I met my dear friend and roommate of former years, Gina Jung, at Le Pichet to catch up and enjoy a delicious meal. It’s always good to see an old friend especially one like Gina. She’s one of a kind. We followed our chitchat and meal with a little taste of heaven. Hayley had read about the chocolate dessert at La Pichet, which was why we’d come. It did not disappoint. It was a thick, rich chocolate soup with a side of heavy whipped cream. Sigh, I still dream about it.
5. What a view! - Not far from the Fremont Troll in Seattle is the neighborhood of Queen Anne which boasts the very best views of Seattle. Hayley took me here to show me her Seattle. It was a beautiful clear day and we could see everything. "The mountains were out" and Rainier was majestic. Seattle is a beautiful city.
4. Sunset on Alki Beach - The sunsets on the West Coast are amazing. I'd forgotten about how beautiful they can be over the ocean. Hayley was showing me Alki Beach when the sun started setting. I made her pull over and we marveled over the beauty of the day, took pictures, and tried not to burn our retinas by staring too long at the sun.
3. Rows and rows of brilliantly colored tulips - Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, holds an annual tulip festival the entire month of April. This was right up my alley A. Flowers 2. Festival D. Outside! 3 thing I adore! It was beautiful! Only a 1/3 of the tulips were in bloom, but that was plenty. There were tulips of every variety and color. I wanted to pick them all.
2. Pike Place Market - When anyone talks about Seattle they talk about Pike Place Market. There is a reason for that: its totally awesome, hello! I LOVED it. It was a lot bigger than I imagined and everything you can think of was being sold somewhere. I tasted everything I could and it was delicious. I saw a man with an opossum on his shoulder. I got a free hug. I watched the famous fish guys toss fish to each other. I ate the worlds best mac and cheese. I saw the original Starbucks. I added gum to the gum wall. I saw a man telling cats' fortunes. I bought some Seattle art. I loved it.
1. Hayley! - With all the great things I did and saw, the very best part of my trip was hanging out with my great friend Hayley. She is fantastic and we really miss her out in DC. I'm so glad that we are friends. She's brave and strong and so much fun. THANK YOU HAYLEY!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Cherry Blossoms!
I LOVE this time of year! Love it. I love when the earth starts to wake up from the long cold winter and everything comes to life. I love the smells and the colors. I love the lengthening of the days and the increase in the temperature. I love the families on Spring Break with their matching sweatshirts. But above all I love the flowers. The daffodils, the hyacinths, the tulips and the BLOSSOMS. If you get the chance to go to DC for the Cherry Blossom festival, GO. One of my absolute favorite traditions (4 years running) is our annual cherry blossom picnic on the steps of the Jefferson memorial. My sister Bean has been pregnant for 2 of the 4 picnics we've had and the number of picnic-ers has been annually increasing. We've been lucky in that each year we've had great weather and have had our picnic when the blossoms were at their peak and before the rain got them. I think this year was the best I've seen yet. The blossoms were amazing. They trees were fuller than I've ever seen them. It looked like pop corn popping on the cherry blossom trees!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Lady Cake
When a good guy friend turns 31 and is booted from his singles ward with no woman on the horizon, what does one do?... Make him an edible woman birthday cake! The "woman" is made from a 9 x 13 cake carved in the shape of a woman's torso, wearing a frosted bikini bottom and Sno Ball bikini top. It was an old trick I learned in college and as long as there are vending machines and gas stations selling Hostess Sno Balls, there will be woman cakes made. Its a real crowd pleaser. While my friend B-Licious was quite pleased with his woman, things didn't really work out between them (something about eating her). So a year later its time to make Vitamin B a new woman. This year I chose to go with a more modest woman and made him a Barbie Princess cake. While this cake is usually the highlight of little girls princess birthday parties, she was quite popular at this 32 year old male birthday party. So what am I gonna do next year? 
Thursday, March 13, 2008
That's all I want
So there I was sitting at my desk on a rare break from the "genealogy consultant" class I've been teaching and observing for the past 4 days, when I heard something that reminded my of what my life is missing. Chickens. It was as if someone had run into the coop and scattered the brood of feathery old biddies and they were squawking their protests on the north portico of Memorial Continental Hall. Perhaps it was a group of DC tourists, or protesters on their way to the White House, or the 20 class participants/DAR members returning from their lunch break, but to me it was chickens. A bunch of puffed up proud hens strutting across the yard and pecking at grasshoppers. It was then that I remembered some of the things I've always wanted in life but have forgotten while living in this metropolis of Washington DC. Chickens. I've always wanted chickens and a front porch and a white picket fence. After my visit to Savannah last year and recently having read Gone With The Wind, I think I would now most prefer a southern plantation along with the chickens, porch and white fence. That's not too much to ask for is it?
Friday, March 7, 2008
The BEST thing to ever come out of New Jersey
While the hair has gotten shorter and the abs tighter the leather vest remains and Jon Bon Jovi continues to be a hot ROCK STAR! Myself and a gazillion permed, 30-something, screaming women were seduced by his all American boy smile and awesomely bad lyrics last Thursday night at the Verizon Center in DC. The show was fabulous. Thanks to blow-dryers and wardrobe changes, Mr. Bon Jovi looked his best all night. He played a lot of new songs but neglected not his classic chart topping hits: "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Livin' on a Prayer," "Bad Medicine," and "I'll Be There For You," to name a few. Those of us who take pleasure in the art of Butt Rock are still singing those 5 words he swore to us. To relive the magic yourself I'd recommend youtubing a couple of his old videos. Ahhhh, the magic of spandex, leather, and big hair!
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