To my Sister, on her birthday

On Sunday my 'Big' Sister (I'm actually bigger) will turn the big 3-0.


It took us many years to get to the place we are today, but I'm very happy to say that we are now friends. Closer than that actually we're like sisters...or we are sisters I mean. It was a rocky road (you're thinking about ice cream now aren't you? Like when we would sit by Dad and wait for a bite of his rocky road and he would get it on our noses instead of our mouths? Fell for it every time), but we navigated it together, and learned from each others mistakes. Well your mistakes actually...I've never really made any ;)




Here you are on your 4th birthday with your brand new pretty pony. You didn't always share your toys (this would come up with my therapist in later years ;) but you always included me in your games. Whether it was locking us up for hours to play school, making a movie or prepping all the barbies for a wedding. I could always count on your creativity.





From the very start you were an animal and baby lover. You made me pray for a puppy and I did, just for you. Okay maybe I wanted one a bit too. You've fostered many kitties and raised a few of your own. You've always been such a nurturer. A natural mother.




And your fashion sense? Remember how I use to beg to wear your clothes? Even if they were too big and looked awful (baggy was the trend right?) I felt so cool wearing your stuff. Thanks for caving every once and awhile.




You're a foodie, just like me. I can always count on you to indulge with me because we like all the same things. Remember when we use to make things to sell? Snickerdoodle cookies at garage sales, roadside italian sodas. We would make awesome business partners.



But most of all you're a best friend, and protector and I always know I can come to you for help.




Happy Birthday you Old, Faithful, Geezer ;) I love you.

Hot Dog!

Yesterday was the hottest day EVER in Seattle. EVER. That is crazy. I spent my lunch hour the day before driving around looking for an A/C unit because I was worried about the dogs. Even with our Fat Albert fan and 3 others, the temp still climbs quite a bit in the casa. Every where I looked they were out, and so I put my name on a list and waited. And yesterday, they called and said "we have a lovely air conditioning unit that will help you annoy the shit out of your Husband." And I said "oh yea? how so?" And they said "you will ask lots of questions while he installs it in 100 degree temperatures...causing him to have you hold the unit in the window probably longer than necessary." I'll take it! He is above using directions, I've always known that.

But before all this happened...I was still worried about the pooches. And so I sent them to my parents house to wait out the heat in the garage with a fan and lots of water. I guess I never really needed to worry though, because Issy has found a way of cooling herself off.




Issy and my Mom cooling off in a foot bath






Despite her burping and flatulance, she is still quite a lady.


*photos courtesy of Bryan

New Moon Parody

I thought this was great. It's a promotion for the movie G-Force.





And in case you haven't seen the real thing and need to compare. Or you just need a Robert Pattinson fix...




Is it too soon to start the countdown?

We're big fans...big fans

It is so bloody hot here right now. I'm sure it's nothing to some, but on my way home yesterday the car said it was 102 degrees! Unheard of for Seattle. I was really worried about the dogs and sped home to make sure they were alive. I called Bryan and in my best "you were right, I was wrong" voice suggested he make a stop for a portable air conditioner. The cheapest you can find please. I nixed putting AC in the house because it rarely makes it above 80 degrees here for more than 2 days in a row. But for my furry children, I'll do anything. Well the dogs were alive and had plenty of energy to make obnoxious noises and run circles around the yard.

Then Bryan comes home from a visit to his boss's house and claims he has borrowed something he thinks will do the trick, and can I please help him unload it from the truck. Never a good request. And well, here's his solution.....

I did say cheap didn't I? The dogs certainly like it, but it is loud!

This isn't the first time Bryan has brought solutions home from work. The first winter in our house we had awful windstorms and power outages. Against my wishes he brought home a generator. I hate being the only person in the neighborhood disturbing the peace with the noise of a generator. I actually like power outages because it gives us a chance to sleep in the living room next to the fire and talk instead of stare at the TV. Well since I had insisted on ripping out the wood burning stove, we had no other choice. And so he hooked up the generator and we had to choose between TV or heat. We picked TV. Watched the new episode of The Office then packed up and headed to my parents house to wait out the storm.

The next winter, I called him on my way home from work and he was very excited and said he had gotten a Christmas bonus. Excellent! I asked how much, and he said...just wait and see. Whoo hoo, this is gonna be good. Maybe we could repair our fireplace? I make it home and walk into the house and he leads me to the backyard. What the hell is his bonus doing in the backyard I say to myself. And there it is, in all its holiday glory...his bonus.

Although ours is much nicer if that's possible.

What will I do without Harry?

Well I did it. I finished all 7 of the Harry Potter books. I started them Memorial Day weekend and now I am done. Sad that it is all over, but anxious to see the next few movies. Friday on my way home I realized that I had left the book at work with only a few chapters left to read. So I did what every sane 26 year old does and had my Husband drop me off at Barnes and Nobles so I could finish it.

Well I didn't finish it before he came to pick me up again, so I went online and found a PDF version. I wish I had looked online before we ventured out because I would have much rather read in the comfort of my own home. Instead I had to listen to the group of Mommies in the cafe talking about home schooling their children, multiplication tables and their sewing rooms. Plus they all looked a little homley and I left scared, swearing up and down I would never homeschool my children and would schedule a haircut immediately.

Saturday I got up early, and since Bryan was a working fool I went for a hike with my friend Angela and her Hubby Brad. We went to Talapus Lake which is a nice little hike up to one of the Alpine Lakes. It was beautiful and all in the shade so we beat the heat!








Me and Angela




Charlie and Issy checking out the scene




Angela and Brad...I don't know what Angela is doing




Me, in the lead role of girl scouts leader (where's the cookies?)





Angela and Brad. Here I know EXACTLY what they're doing.




Charlie actually swam for once. Can you see how freaked out he is?




Here he is trying to hitch a ride back to shore on top of Issy




Later, Bryan and I went to look at windows for the house (I know you're jealous ;) and then to a BBQ at my friend Shannon's parents house.




Jessica, Shannon et Moi



Sunday we did the usual. Walk the dogs, grocery shop, nap. In the evening we went to a co-workers wedding at The Robinswood House. It was a great wedding, all in the shade!



The Robinswood House



The Bride and Groom. Professor Dumbledore officiated. He looks nice all cleaned up eh?




Somehow I attracted the children blowing bubbles




Adorable little ring bearer




I couldn't get enough of this little one. Too cute!





And this one, so stylish. I can't resist a little girl with a bobb.







Most of the pictures turned up blurry because those kids just move so dang fast!






And that was the weekend. Hope you had a good one!

Flashback Friday: It's wedding season

My first wedding of the season is this weekend, and then it's full throttle through the summer and into the fall. I like weddings, so for me it's fun. I started out with no weddings this year and was a little sad, and then bada boom bada bing. 5 weddings. Whoo hoo!



It's funny now to look back at the different stages of wedding growth in my life. That's right, there are stages. The first was flower girl, which I never was. This is probably why I seem to be stuck in limbo in stage 4. I'm like a child who wasn't breast fed long enough providing the nutrients I need develop. What's stage 4? We'll get to it.

The second stage was bridesmaid. This was where I started to think about my own wedding. I planned it all. It would be Great Gatsby style, on a long stretch of green grass with a live band and lots of martinis and champagne.

The third stage was my engagement. I dreamed, I planned and then I learned my future Husband didn't want to wear a tux. Bye bye Gatsby, hello Mexico.

And the fourth stage, in which I am stuck, is the wedding itself. I love weddings. I loved mine, I love yours, they make me happy. I love the coordination and the details and the meaning behind it all. Sure it's expensive and a waste to some, but not to me. There are ways around everything. Even county zoning when I start my own venue ;)

Sometimes, I start to move on to the fifth stage of weddings. Where I start to notice the cute little children dressed up for the wedding, and how those little girls stare in awe of the beautiful bride . And I think to myself, "aww I can't wait until I have cute little flower girls ." But then I flashback to THIS FRIDAY, and decide to stick to stage four.

So there you have it. The reason behind my inability to move beyond weddings. I missed stage one and never fully developed.

Oh well, I think my sister and I made pretty cute wedding guests...maybe even showed up a few flower girls with our dance moves....

I actually don't think this was taken at a wedding.

We know the rules, only the bride wears white!

America's got NO talent

Now where do you suppose I could find a life size Tina Turner puppet?





Oh wait, Google knows. Google is so smart.

Rick Lyon is a famous puppeteer. Check out some of his work HERE.

Kelly Ripa, Gelman, and Regis

I spent longer than necessary on this site because I've always wondered what material their skin was. It's fleece. Who knew?

Smoking teh Potter, makes you crazy in teh head

I’m on the last book finally! Bryan asked me yesterday what I was going to do once I was finished. I said, get some sleep, exercise maybe? Maybe. Wouldn’t that be nice? No more late nights. Although it is Issy and my time to cuddle on the couch…Charlie and Bryan go to bed very early. I haven’t seen the movie yet, as I’m waiting for it to come to the IMAX, but I’m very excited about it. I don’t know what it is, but I usually have to save books for vacations because they consume my life. I’m constantly looking for time to steal away and read a little bit. Harry Potter has taken me over the edge lately… (oh yea baby!)


Friday night out with friends there was a silent protest across the street by the Seattle Iranian Green Movement Supporters. We began discussing the Iranian prisoners and how people believe they are spies, and I said something about them possibly being under the imperius curse. *blink… blink* I was a drinking a margarita. That’s all I can say.


On the way to the Lavender Festival I was looking dreamily out the window at the beautiful surroundings….

Me: “I wonder what these people do for a living?”

Bryan: “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Me: “What?"

Bryan: “Katia and I just had an entire conversation about that, were you not listening?”

Katia: “I think they’re all Lavender farmers”

Me: “hmm, nope. I don’t know what I was thinking about”

Bryan: “You have the attention span of a goldfish”

Me: “I was having a Luna Lovegood moment I guess”

*HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILER*

Seriously though, don't touch if you don't want to know what happens.

Clickey HERE. Is funny.

Le festival de lavande

Busy weekend, and it feels great because we actually got out of the house! Imagine that. Friday we met up with our friend Mike and his girlfriend Stephanie, who is visiting from Switzerland and is just adorable. I love her accent. Still wish I had one. We're hoping to visit her next fall. And when I say we I mean me because Bryan can think of a million different things to do with that money. Oddly, I can't and am hyper focused on getting us there. We went out to dinner in Greenlake and then went for ice cream at Ben and Jerry's. And so began the weekend of ice cream.

Me and Stephanie with our boyfriends Ben and Jerry




Saturday Bryan, Katia, Jackson, the dogs and I headed to Sequim for the Lavender Festival. Beautiful weather, a little windy but it's Washington so we're used to it. We shopped the booths, enjoyed Gyros, Crepes, and more ice cream. YUM! We had plans to head to Dungeness Spit after but were all exhausted from the sun. Maybe next time. When we got home I went to the neighbors to help plan a birthday party and down a few margaritas.

The Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington. Okay okay, I didn't take that picture. Thank you PortAngeles.com

Jackson listening to the band

Bryan and Charlie

This is Jackson dancing....

Can you tell it's dancing? Kinda reminds me of Linus from Charlie Brown

Katia and Jackson taking a Cheerio break

Oh oh, listen close now folks. Sequim is very close to Forks, WA. Home of the Twilight Vampires (Bryan offered to make a stop there, but I turned him down. I know I'm crazy right? Or maybe I'm not crazy because I didn't go, up for debate! Actually I've been there before, and it's not exciting.) Also, the restaurant where Bella and Edward have their first date is in Port Angeles. The restuarant, Bella Italia, had a booth at the festival and they were serving the mushroom ravioli Bella orders. I saw someone get it and it looked yummy. They were also selling t-shirts that said "If you're looking for a bite, join team Bella." Pretty funny.

Okay, done with Twilight and on to something possibly equally nauseating (depending on who you are) but adorable photos of baby with ice cream....are you ready?

Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream. YUM!

Sharing Uncle Bryan's Rainbow Sherbert

Bryan and the doogs

Charlie and Issy finish off a cone

Sunday I hung out at IKEA to pick up a few things in attempt to get my closet organized. I love taking my time at IKEA and normally Bryan rushes me through. I actually heard a guy say to his wife "walk with purpose". I had to laugh because that is exactly how Bryan acts when we're there. Later we went to Anthony's Homeport for dinner to celebrate my Grandmaman's 81st birthday. On Sundays they have all you can eat crab so we all took advantage. My personal record is 2.5 crabs but I just couldn't this time. And I'm glad because when I write it down it sounds nasty and it's making me sick to think about it!

The family

Bryan and Grandmaman. Today is her actual birthday. Joyeux Anniversaire Grandmaman!

Jackson James

Clam chowder

The Birthday Girl

My Grandmaman's cute shoes. She's 81 people, I can only hope I still care about my shoes when I'm 81.

Crab feed




Grammy showing off her legs

Mom and Dad

Jack and Kat

Jackson blowing out Grandmaman's candle. He's a pro now!




And that was our very unproductive weekend. And it was awesome. Hope yours was too!