Snowy Seattle.

We arrived in Seattle yesterday morning, bright and early, after missing our flight out Friday night. My saint of a friend, Jackie, drove us to the airport at the crack of dawn, and luckily second time is a charm -- we made our flight.

In case you have not heard, Mother Nature has decided to punish Seattle. She has dumped Upstate-New-York levels of snow on Jet City. Usually, if it snows in Seattle (which is not even an annual occurrence), it melts within a day or two. Apparently, there has been snow on the ground for a week now, and there's no sign of the snow stopping yet.

Josh's big bro, Kitt, and our nephew, Jason, picked us up from the airport and we slowly made our way along a snowy I-5 back to their house. The roads are a bit treacherous, especially considering Seattle doesn't have sufficient plowing equipments and Seattleites drive as well in the snow and Angelenos drive in the rain. (For example, see here.)

Saturday night, we had planned on attending my sorority sister Lindsay's wedding. There was a lot of question whether the roads even would be open, but I did not want to miss it (especially because I was worried that a lot of guests would be snowed in). So, we carefully made our way to the ceremony at Bastyr Chapel. The chapel is beautiful, and they had set up candles down the aisle and on the altar, which was especially cozy and romantic given the weather.

Some photos, courtesy of Taryn:

The altar.


Taryn and the beautiful bride.


After the wedding, the snow was coming down even harder. The word was that there would be additional road closures, 60 mph winds, and another 6-8 inches of snow in the next few hours.

Taryn gave us a lift to the reception at the Hotel Deca, my favorite hotel in Seattle (although I still call accidentally it the Edmund Meany). Because of the weather, we unfortunately had to cut out a little early, but the food, decor, and drinks were all top notch (not that I would expect anything less from Lindsay)!

Taryn drove us back toward her place, and then Kitt picked us up and took us home. The roads were scary, but we arrived safe and sound. We drank some wine, chatted, and then when the power went out due to the storm ... well, we lit a fire and poured some more wine.

I took some pics of the snow at Kitt & Arian's house ...






Kitt shoveling the driveway.


So, we are pretty much snowed in today. The snow keeps falling, and the roads by the house have not been plowed, so we are having a lazy day. I have been catching up on my Google Reader and blogging (as you have, no doubt, noticed) and the boys have been watching movies and playing video games. After this post, I am probably going to curl up with a book. Lazy feels good these days.

My One and Oly.

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! Here's a little recap of what we have been up to since touching down Friday morning:

We left the airport Friday morning and Josh and his dad dropped me off at Bellevue Square to meet Taryn for lunch and a little shopping. As always, it was wonderful to spend the afternoon with Taryn. We both got some good shopping done, each leaving Nordstrom's with new shoes.

Friday evening, we went to Josh's brother's house, and I went to bed super early (I was exhausted having only slept two hours the night before). Josh and his bro, Kitt, hung out, caught up, and drank a little beer.

Saturday morning, we headed down to Olympia bright and early to set up "the grange" for the anniversary party. I had no idea what "the grange" was (despite a few covert google searches on my Blackberry, with no luck). For those of you city girls like I, "the grange" is an association of farmers. The association usually has a little social/dance hall for its members. This particular grange was built in 1928 and reminded me of 1940s dance halls my grandma used to talk about. It was really very cute and rustic.

Josh's whole family was there, and Josh's grandparents seemed so happy. They danced and mingled with the rest of the family, and Josh and his brother selected some great Big Band music that seemed to complete the whole feel. Oh, and there was lots of wine. :)

Happy 65th anniversary!

After the party, Josh, Kitt, Kitt's wife Arian, and I headed to downtown Olympia to celebrate Arian's 30th Birthday!

We started the night off at McMenamins Spar Cafe. I had been here before McMenamins took it over, and it looks pretty much the same. We found a little table in the back, ate tots, and Kitt and Arian played pool.

After leaving the Spar, we went to The Royal, a bar set up to look like a trendy living room from the late 1970s with bocce ball games set up on either side of the bar. I really loved this bar. It was cozy but hip. Who knew such cool bars existed in Oly?

I'm not sure what's up today. Guess that's all part of the adventure of hanging out with Josh & family. :)

Pre-teenaged sensations

If you are reading this, then I just figured out how to blog from my Blackberry! How cool is that?! (It makes me feel like singing that song from Napoleon Dynamite: "Ohhh, I love technology. But not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology. Always and forever. Always and forever.")

So, where were we? Ah, last time I blogged, Josh and I were about to pick up the most adorable creatures on the planet for the evening. Well, I ended up picking up the girls (Josh had a rugby game), and they wanted to go to the mall (insert 12 year-old-girl-squeal here), so that's where we went. Come to find out, my little cousins are in love with Juicy Couture. This came as a bit of a surprise, probably because at their age my idea of "designer" was Arizona Jeans and The Gap. Whatever. So, we look at all things "Juicy," and then head to Claire's where they begged me to let me get their ears pierced. Funny, girls. They settled for magnetic earrings.

Of course, one mall was not enough for my favorite pre-teen mall rats, and since Josh and I are huge suckers, we agreed to take them to the Camarillo Outlets after some begging. Our first stop? The Juicy Couture outlet. Good Lord, those are some expensive sweat pants! I mean, I love a good splurge, but this is one store I do not get. I guess that makes me officially old. Before I know it, I will start complaining their music is too loud.

Next stop was my favorite spot at the outlets: the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. The girls were convinced once I told them Saks had Juicy Couture. Although, they kept calling it "Stacks 5" which was cracking me up. Turns out there was a big sale at Saks, and the girls ended up finding deeply discounted Juicy Couture zip-ups, so we bought them for their birthdays. I know, I can't believe I bought designer items for two little kids, but what can I say? I am a sucker who cannot say no to those two little things. However, as a public service, I am adding this inability to the list of things to fix before getting knocked up so my children are not spoiled brats. You're welcome. :)

After the mall, we grabbed dinner and then headed back to the house and met up with Bug (my sis) and Jackie. We all went into the hot tub and chatted before putting the girls to bed.

Monday we went to see 27 Dresses. It was pretty much what I expected. Then, we went to Grandma's for dinner and dropped the girls off.

The rest of the week has been busy at work and kind of stressful. Ah well.

At least I am out of the office today. Josh and I are in Seattle/Olympia for the weekend to celebrate Josh's grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. (How amazing is 65 years?!) I love being back in the Pacific Northwest where, ironically, it is not raining. Glad we left the fugly weather behind!

Bow Down to Washington.

Well, we are back in sunny (but slightly chilly) L.A. Our flight landed at the crack of dawn this morning, and PJ was nice enough to come pick us up.

I have a ton to do before tomorrow, but I decided to take a quick procrastination detour and blog...

Our last day in Washington was great! I am a huge supporter of my alma mater's football team, the Washington Huskies. Yesterday was the 100th Apple Cup, the big rivalry game between the Huskies and the dirty, dirty Cougs. I loved going to the Apple Cup when I was in college, and so I was so excited to score some tickets for yesterday's game.

The game was great! We were on the edge of our seats the entire time. However, I sound like a man today from all the yelling. Also, it was quite chilly. Josh and I were wrapped up in blankets, and my dad and sis went on a couple searches for hot chocolate.

Despite the efforts of our amazing quarterback, Jake Locker, the Huskies lost by one touchdown in the last minutes of the fourth quarter.

Sigh. We'll get those dirty Cougs next year!

Happy Thanksgiving from Oly!

I am temporarily coming out of my turkey/sweet potato coma to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the day at Josh's grandparents' house in Olympia. My dad and sis spent the holiday along with all of my lovely in-laws, so we were one, big, happy family. I feel very lucky that my family and Josh's family get along and like spending time together. It probably helps that we have all known each other for so long. Whatever the reason, I am very grateful for the mutual affection between the two clans.

I am so relaxed and happy. I think I definitely needed a break from work and life in L.A. I have been sleeping a bunch, and some of the health problems that have been popping up seem to have gone away, at least for now.

So, yes, the trip has been wonderful. Here's what I have been up to:

Monday, Josh and I headed downtown and shopped and had lunch. Oh, and I also splurged for a pedicure at a place called Butter London. It was a little mall place, but they have their own product line. So far, no chips, so two thumbs up! After that, we met up with a close sorority sister, Megan, and her husband, Josh, for a fabulous dinner at La Casa del Mojito, a teeny tiny Cuban restaurant in Seattle. I had the Bisteca Fritta, which was like butta. Oh, and the mojito wasn't half bad, either!

Tuesday afternoon, I met Danielle, another dear friend from the sorority, at Bell Square to do some holiday shopping and have lunch. I ended up buying some cute placecard holders for our Christmas table, since we are hosting this year. Other than that, no big finds.

Tuesday evening, I had dinner with Taryn, one of my best friends and a bridesmaid in our wedding (also from the sorority), and we did a little shopping (noticing a trend?). We had a marathon talk, and I left feeling so grateful that she is one of my nearest and dearest. She never ceases to crack me up, and it's so nice to feel like someone else "gets it." Love you, T-Ro.

Wednesday was pretty mellow. We spent four hours (!!!) in traffic headed to Olympia. (For you non-Washingtonians, it should take only an hour.) My sis and dad landed around 6. The sis, Josh, his brother Kitt, Kitt's wife Arian, and I spent the evening at a random little bar out in the woods by the in-laws' house. Since it was cold, Bug and I drank hot buttered rums (and one too many at that). Fun times.

Perhaps the sleep and relaxation has allowed my foggy mind to clear a bit as I have been feeling very grateful these past couple of days. In the spirit of the holiday, as a few of you have already done (see here, here, and here), below I have posted five things I am grateful for this year:

1. Josh. He's supportive and mellow when I need it, and he still manages to make me smile.

2. My family. As crazy as they made me growing up, we have always been very tight-knit, and I feel blessed to have such a wonderful (albeit slightly quirky) family.

3. My friends. I think I might be the luckiest person I know when it comes to the amazing friends I have. Love you guys.

4. My job. As much as I whine sometimes about the hours and the pressure, this is what I want to do and I really do love the work. It's challenging and interesting, even if it is high-pressure. Plus, it's articles like this that remind me that I am lucky to have a great job at all.

5. New found perspective. I am so ready for 2008.

On that note, I am off to bed. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I am alive, I promise!

Wow, it has been awhile, no? The past few weeks are kind of a blur, but here's pretty much what's been happening over here:

We successfully moved from the apartment to our new place! And by "we," I really mean Josh. I have been working terrible hours, so Josh was really wonderful and pretty much packed our entire place up and orchestrated the move. Although, I have to laugh a bit at the packing job. Let's just say, Josh and I have different, er, organizational styles? For example, while looking for my make-up bag, I found a mop bucket with lotion, hair gel, dish soap, and a bag of new potatoes! Um, one of these things is not like the other... :) Ah well, I can't complain since I didn't have to do a thing.

So, the house is good. It's still in the midst of some renovations. Our carpet was back ordered, so we have been living without carpet on the cement sub floor for the past three weeks. Luckily, the carpet is getting installed today! All the doors, baseboards, and the master door have been replaced and painted. It is finally starting to come together. Once the carpet is down, then maybe we can start unpacking (all of the furniture is in the garage), and I will stop feeling like I am squatting in someone else's vacant home!

In other news, I have managed to escape work for the week. I am taking today, tomorrow, and Wednesday off from work to visit my in-laws and college friends up in Seattle and Olympia. Josh and I arrived Saturday night with the dogs. The dogs were little angels and slept the whole flight, which was amazing!

Yesterday, we went out to dinner with Josh's fam for his sister's birthday. Other than that, we just vegged, which was so amazing. Today, Josh and I are going to tool around downtown Seattle and then hopefully meet up with some of our favorite people, Megan and Josh.

It's so nice to be back in the Pacific Northwest! I love it here. This is going to be a great week!