little black journal

Today was painfully hot in Seattle, as we reached the hottest temperature ever on record here.  Now, I lived in California’s Central Valley, so I know heat, but I also know that in California, you can usually count on coming home to an air-conditioned house.  No such luck here, so once again, we headed right back out the door once we got home from work to seek refuge from the heat.  After calling a couple of restaurants in search of AC, and visiting a couple of others, we finally found ourselves at Pyramid Brewery and promptly ordered a round of cold beers.  Sweet relief…

After dinner, we spent some time hanging out at REI, fiddling around and waiting for the sun to go down, and left the store just in time to swing by Elliott Bay to catch the last remnants of a vibrantly pink sky.

This weather has been a great incentive to get out and enjoy the city, but then again, tonight we’re sleeping on an air mattress in our living room, because it’s just two degrees cooler down here than in our upstairs bedroom.  This is what desperation feels like.  (Yes, I do know that I’m being dramatic…)

Seattle is hot, hot, hot this week, with temps approaching 100 degrees.  I feel like it’s heresy for a Seattle-ite to complain about heat, since we always seem to be complaining about the absence of sun, but we are approaching the point of unbearable-ness.  This, coupled with the fact that Shane’s dad is visiting and we’d like to show him the city, is incentive to do all we can to get out of our AC-free house in the evenings.  And so tonight we headed out to Ballard for Thai food (after calling ahead to make sure that the restaurant was air conditioned), then decided to check out the Ballard Locks.  It was a great night to be out near the water.  We watched the boats travel through the canal, oohed and ahhed over the huge salmon that were running in the fish ladders, and reveled in the feel of the cool breeze coming off the lake.  Lovely.

When Shane and I started house-hunting two and a half years ago, we kept our search radius within a 30-minute bus ride to the center of downtown Seattle.  The place we ended up buying in Columbia City met our criteria, but still, the fact that it took 25 minutes (on a good day) to commute to 4.5 miles to downtown was a little tough to stomach, considering I had been able to walk to work from our old apartment in almost half that time.  What made the bus ride a lot easier to bear was the promise that the first leg of the Seattle lightrail system would eventually run just two blocks away from our house, thereby cutting our commute time almost in half.  And finally, after enduring two and a half years of roadwork and construction and train testing, the lightrail officially opened for business on Monday and made our trek to work so much more pleasant.  A few of the pros:

-  The trains come almost three times more frequently than our bus used to come, so if we happen to just miss our train in the morning, we’ve only got a seven-minute wait to catch the next one.

-  The downtown stops for the lightrail are in the underground bus tunnel.  This is a big plus, considering Seattle sidewalk bus stops are cool and wet for eight (or more) months out of the year.  The underground tunnel is dry and well-lit – a much more pleasant place to wait on a cold winter evening.

-  The trains are so clean and modern and shiny and new!  Yes, this will last for only so long, but it’s such a step up from the bus – I hate to rip on Seattle’s bus system, since it did serve us relatively well for the last couple of years, but some of Metro’s buses are looking a little ragged.

-  It’s just so much more cool to say, “I’ve got to catch my train home” than to say you’re taking the bus.  So much more urban!

Major kudos to Seattle for taking such a huge step in improving our city’s mass transit system.  We’re finally getting on the right track (pun intended).

We got back this afternoon from an absolutely fantastic weekend of camping in the San Juan islands, enjoying the beauty of nature and the company of good friends.  We played on the beach (and laid on the beach), laughed around the campfire, caught a couple of beautiful sunsets, and fell in the love with the tiny little paradise that is Shaw Island.  Scenes from the weekend:

Our approach to the island.  The anticipation builds…

We set up camp on Friday evening and decided around 8:30 that we’d try to jet across the island to catch the sunset.  We made it just in the nick of time as we came across this little bay and west-facing view.

Saturday was a day to play and be lazy.  I spent much of the afternoon lounging in the sand with the ladies, while the boys played on the beach, skipping rocks, hitting rocks, and overturning them to see what kinds of little marine life might lie underneath (boys will be boys…).

That night we caught another beautiful sunset, then spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire, munching on s’mores, chatting and laughing, and enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the beach adjacent to our campsite.

It was truly a perfect weekend in the woods – we are already talking about our next trip back, hoping this voyage to the island is something we can instate as an annual tradition.  It will be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight, but man, I will miss the sound of the ocean as I drift off to sleep…

Shane and I spent this weekend down in Central Oregon at my parents’ place, where we met up with my three closest girlfriends from California.  It was a fabulous couple of days – it was great to be reunited with this group of ladies that I’ve known for over a decade now.  We often don’t do as good a job as we’d like of keeping in touch, but the second we’re all together again, it feels as if we’ve never been apart.

Much of the weekend was spent just lounging around the house, playing ping-pong and board games and giggling ourselves silly.  But we did make sure to get a good dose of the outdoors – Central Oregon is home to some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen.  On Saturday afternoon, we did the grand tour of Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  This was the breathtaking view from the top of Paulina Peak:

And Shane was such a good sport, hanging out with a bunch of girls all weekend.  Bless his heart for enduring, and even enjoying, two full days of listening to our incessant giggling and reminiscing.

One of our last stops on Saturday was at the obsidian flow in Newberry Park.  Mounds and mounds of pumice and obsidian as far as the eye can see.  Sort of desolate-feeling, but also so beautiful.

And on the way home today, as Shane and I kept catching these amazing little glimpses of a snow-covered Mount Hood, we decided to take a short detour to Timberline Lodge to get a better view of the mountain.  Totally worth the trip – Shane and I walked around in our flip flops and took in the view while we watched geared-up skiiers come flying down snowy slopes.  Bizarre.

I was sad to see this weekend come to an end, but so thankful for the chance to enjoy some quality time with friends and family.  Already looking forward to our next reunion, wherever that may be…

Far too often, I take for granted the fact that we live in the midst of the Pacific Northwest and all its natural glory.  And so yesterday we resolved to embrace the outdoors, as we hopped in the car and headed east for a hike up Little Si (Mount Si’s smaller, less intimidating sister mountain).  I am not much of a hiker, but the 2.3-mile trip to the summit sounded manageable.  This hike wasn’t necessarily the leisurely stroll through the forest that I had imagined – within a few minutes I had broken a sweat and fallen short of breath – but as we pressed on, I fell into a groove and we were soon at the summit.  We found a place to sit on a rock and take in the views of the mountains and valleys and endless blankets of lush green trees all around us.  Well worth the sweat.

We are talking about conquering Mount Si later this summer – now if only there were a Margarita stand at the top…

We spent most of this weekend down in Portland, enjoying some much-needed time with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece.  It had been over 3 months since my last visit, and I was itching to see how Elise had grown and changed.  She is crawling all over the place now, attempting to take her first steps, although the spill that she took a couple of weeks ago, and the subsequent broken ankle and cumbersome cast, have set her back a little bit walking-wise.  She is incredibly good-natured and has many sorts of smiles – after waking up from a nap she will tuck in her chin and look up at you with a bashful little grin; when you lift her up into the air or tickle her stomach she will squeal with unrestrained laughter.  She is also eating all kinds of new things – veggies are clearly not her favorite, but she has recently discovered the joy of spaghetti, in all its glorious messiness:

Such a darling, loving, fun little girl…  And once again, I am left wondering, “When can I see her again?!”

This weekend was proof that summertime is just around the corner, as I enjoyed: slicing into a perfectly juicy watermelon; taking in a Sunday afternoon baseball game; seeing our little front yard garden grow by the hour; drinking several glasses of chilled white wine; jogging along sparkling Lake Washington; barbecuing in the backyard with neighbors; waking up each morning and opening all the windows in the house; wearing tank tops and flip flops; reveling in the feel of sunshine on my shoulders.  ‘Tis the season for all these warm weather pleasures.

Unfortunately, ’tis also the season for busy-ness, with long hours at work and weekends spent preparing for my next licensing exam.  But I will certainly be taking time to stop and smell the spider mums…  (Flowers courtesy of Shane.)

In honor of our upcoming third anniversary, Shane and I treated ourselves last weekend to a great little getaway to San Francisco.  It was a whirlwind couple of days, filled with amazing food, lots of sunshine (I’ve got the pink shoulders to prove it), a good dose of baseball, plenty of sight-seeing, and good times with old friends.  The highlights:

We arrived on Friday morning, checked into our cute little room at the Mosser, and headed straight back out the door toward Golden Gate Park.  We were both eager to check out two of SF’s newest museums – the de Young by Herzog and de Meuron, and the recently remodeled California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano.  Both buildings were stunning.  The copper panels of the de Young were sleek and gorgeous; the glassy lobby and hilly roof of the Academy of Sciences were simple but incredibly thoughtful.  We grabbed lunch at The Moss Room in the Academy of Sciences and then spent a couple of hours wandering through the museum, taking in the lushness of the miniature rainforest and the wonderful colors and shapes of the sea-life in the aquarium.  I felt like an awe-struck little kid, excitedly grabbing Shane by the arm every few minutes to point out some cool little butterfly or crazy swimming seadragon.  Awesome.

We spent the evening enjoying a decadent dinner at Perbacco, and then headed to District wine bar to meet up with some of my old friends from college for a drink.  It was good to catch up – B and I lived together for two years in college and were both in Paris for our fourth year abroad.  So many memories together, and so many details to share about our post-college lives!  I would have loved to stay up all night chatting, but the wine, the heavy pasta dinner, and the rich chocolate dessert were all beginning to put me under, and so we headed back to our hotel, tired but satisfied with a perfect day in the city.

Saturday we had just two main missions:  enjoy a fantastic brunch at Citizen Cake and take in a Giants game at AT&T Park.  Mission number one was accomplished as I polished off an amazing egg/avacado/gruyere breakfast sandwich at our nice little corner table by the window.  And a couple of hours later, we were well into mission number two, as we grabbed our seats at the ballpark, bought an ice-cold lemonade, and sat back to cheer on our favorite team.  The Giants, unfortunately, were no match for the Mets that day, but nonetheless, it was a well-spent afternoon.

Saturday night we headed to the Marina to get dinner at A16, then bussed south to grab drinks at Bix – a small bar that came highly recommended to us by a good friend.  Bix was awesome, from the perfectly prepared cocktails, to the uber-cool jazz band mellowly jamming out in the corner, to the friendly guy that sat next us and bought Shane and I each a shot of good tequila in honor of our anniversary.  This place has been added to the list of must-hits for our next return to San Francisco.

Sunday began with a visit to the Mission district.  We picked up a couple of tarts at Tartine and walked over to Dolores Park to munch on our treasures and enjoy the view of the city.  Lovely.

Our weekend of gluttony continued as we headed to the Ferry Building to try out the notorious oysters at Hog Island.  Being near the water was wonderful – the breeze that blew in from the bay gave us a welcome break from the heat.  Our final sight-see of the day was to visit the sea lions at Fisherman’s Wharf.  I love these animals – I could watch them bark and flop and laze for hours.

One final bar stop to enjoy a beer with some good friends that were in San Francisco for the day, and our time in the city had come to a close.  And so the planning begins for our next trip back!  I had somehow forgotten or just never realized what an incredible place San Francisco can be.  So much to see, so much to eat, and so little time…

I have undertaken the task going through the nearly 3000 photos I took during our two-week vacation, picking out some of my favorites for printing or sharing here.  It’s a slow process – so many to choose from, each one coupled with a special memory.  I’ll sporadically post a few on my blog as I’m sorting – here are the particularly special ones I came across tonight:

By the end of our time in Paris, Shane was rolling his eyes as I stopped to take my 200th picture of Parisian roof lines.  Can’t help it – even though buildings like this are found all over the city, I am still enamoured with each and every one of them.  So lovely…

Lampposts were also a favorite photographic subject – it’s all about the little things (although the sight of the Eiffel Tower in the background certain helps the composition).

More roof lines – this one was taken from the terrace of the Pompidou:

Signs of springtime…

Rue Montorgueil – one of my favorite streets in Paris, lined with cafes and cheese shops and little markets.  Shane and I had a nice leisurely lunch at a little pizzeria on this street after our trip to the Pompidou.

Place des Vosges – one of my favorite public squares in Paris (I’m starting to notice that everything in Paris is described as “my favorite…” – bear with me).  We stayed just a couple of blocks away from here and frequented this spot.  Great place to sit on a bench, eat a sandwich, and people-watch.

Yowsers:

Already our time in Paris and Portugal feels like it was so long ago – I’m ready for a repeat!  But for now, my memories and my thousands of photos will have to do, which isn’t so bad – there’s satisfaction in reminiscing about such a perfect trip…