Mid-summer crisis

The sunset, a metaphor for closing stages of my summer.

I should have realized summer was flying right past me when I started getting a bunch of emails from school regarding registration and paperwork we have to turn in for clinical placements last week. But no, it was 30 minutes ago when I went to the blog of a blogger on the East Coast, and her latest post was posted AUGUST 1ST, 2014. WHAT! It's August?! I haven't enjoyed even half of all the summer fun I planned on enjoying this season! Yes, I've done a whole lot, but I haven't nearly been to the lake as many times as I'd hoped I would have been by this time. And I certainly haven't binge watched enough Netflix, nor have I been downtown to walk around and play tourist. Arrrg, I have not been referring to my list.

I have been doing some things though. Don't get me wrong- I have been having a LOT of fun. I'm just not sure how a whole month flew by! Here are some snippets of the last month.

This is Kathie in a douche tank. She can totally pull it off! We had biked to Magnuson park that day and it was cloudy so we didn't think to bring swim suits, which I totally regretted because we got sweaty and sticky.

I went out on a lake float for the FIRST time this summer with my sister and one of her friends. I bought that amazing turtle float and we laughed ourselves silly because seriously, what is better than an adult woman riding a turtle out to sea? Possibly an adult woman riding out to sea on this.

I've been prepping a lot for the wedding, like cleaning the house for family to come, but also practicing our getting-beautiful skills. This is fabulous Bi, with her beautifying servants. Now to get that maid of honor speech down...

Linda turned 28..........?

Of everyone I see, I probably hang out the most with this girl. She is bossy, but we make it work. I don't think I actually do much- just literally watch her while she does her own thing.

Alison and I went to the pier to catch up and get some fried foods. The navy ship from San Diego happened to be there so there were men in white navy uniforms everywhere. One of them offered to take our picture for us in front of the ship when he saw us taking some pretty pathetic selfies. This picture was supposed to be the 'funny' one, but it turned out so good and natural!

This picture is such a good one, but I wish I was in there with her! We didn't want to ask a stranger to take a panorama for us though- I don't think society is ready for that.

Goodbye July 2014! You were a real treat. Can't wait to play with August!

East Coast Adventure Part 2: New York City, NY!

Us at the Statue of Liberty! Reminder to self: do NOT go on a Sunday in the summer.

I went back and read my post on Philly, and I didn't do that trip justice at all! I think I was tired and jet-lagged so there were a bunch of grammatical mistakes that I went back to edit, but that sad little post is up now, and it will forever be sad because I don't want to delete posts, because it's an accurate portrayal of my life. Because it was so bad, I've been putting off writing this post for a couple days now (also out of laziness and busy-ness), but I think it marinated well and I feel refreshed and ready to tell you all about part 2 of my awesome east coast adventure time.

So on Saturday morning, we hopped on a bolt bus to spend 3 days and 2 nights in the Big Apple. I've been twice before, but it's different traveling with your friends vs. traveling with your family (ahem, more fun + less stress). We stayed at this sweet place I found on airbnb in the East Village and had a GREAT experience. The apartment was spacious (as spacious as NYC apartments get...) and it was cheaper than a hotel! The neighborhood was lively with lots restaurants and young people out and about, and it was very central to all the things we wanted to see in Manhattan. Here are some of the highlights from the weekend!

We ate at Joe's Pizza- the BEST pizza in NYC (or possibly in the entire US). No kidding. There are photos of celebrities all over the walls coming in to get pizza. Leonardo DiCaprio is on the wall like 4 times, each photo looking like a different time in his life (1 after Titanic, 1 after the Aviator, 1 after Inception, etc.) 

John and me at Washington Square Park. I taught Chin and Tomo the photographic value behind the asian squat, so they started doing it. Yay! No shame! Do it for the photo!

And bless Chin! John and I would never have photos together like this if she did not insist we pose together in front of cool stuff.

John and I subway-ed across town to go to the The City Bakery for their AMAZING chocolate chip cookie. The best in my life. Everything is kind of expensive because all their food is organic and locally sourced, etc, but the cookie was well worth my time and money.

Food from The Halal Guys food truck. The line was ridiculous, but it moved quickly. Delicious, and ginormous portions for $6.

We went out to 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar with a great view of the Empire State building. It was super swanky and crowded. And at $12 for a well drink- no thanks. Not really my scene, but it's good to try everything at least once right?!

Grabbing some pizza after going to Times Square late at night.

Chin and Tomo walk slow, so they got a lot of pictures of John an I walking. It's actually a really good photo collection I think. This is us walking through Central Park.

Me and John walking past the courthouse. It was Monday and there were couples every block, the woman in a little white dress and the man in a suit, about to get married at the courthouse. That sounds kind of amazing and simple, doesn't it? Just getting married and having it be just about you two, not family or the logistics of having a wedding.

Strolling across the Brooklyn Bridge. Actually we only strolled a quarter of it and then strolled back.

9/11 Memorial, which was absolutely amazing. The first time I was in New York, the site was complete rubble with a great big fence around it so that you couldn't really see in. The last time I was there in 2012, we didn't make it to the memorial, but I'm so glad we did this time. The memorial itself actually gave me feelings of grief and loss because you're looking down into the memorial, whereas at other memorials you usually look up and feel inspired or proud or some other positive feeling. It was moving to see the names of the victims, especially those of the first responders grouped with their units. 9/11 defined the politics of my childhood. When I think about the events following 9/11, I think about George W. Bush and the search for weapons of mass destruction, and racism against middle eastern people, and the Iraq War, which is now actually in history books. Although it was happening all over the news around us, it was never really clear what was going on partly because adults tried to protect us from it, and also because I think I don't think we had the mental capacity to fully understand it.

That was essentially our trip in a nutshell! I was really sad to go home and get back to real life. I have been busy working, getting things organized for family to come and for Kim's wedding next weekend. Until next time NYC!

East Coast Adventure Pt 1: Philadelphia, PA

Last week, Chin and I went to visit Tomo in Philly who is there for the summer for a fancy internship. I'd never been to Philly before so there was so much to do and see. Tomo lives on edge of University City just west of downtown right next to a Shake Shack so naturally I ate there three times. The food all over Philly was so yummy- the hardest part was not being able to eat all of it! We did a bit of shopping (no tax on clothes and shoes!) and lot of sightseeing which was a ton of fun because I was reminded about how much I love US history.

John drove up to Philly from Kentucky on Thursday and then we went to all the national monuments. We saw the Liberty Bell, which was not as exciting as I thought it’d be. It was indoors and I think people got too excited to take a picture of it that they forgot to actually look at it! Most people just scrambled in to take a picture and scrambled out for the next people to scramble in. Just across the street is Independence Hall, which is where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. It’s incredible that the most famous people in US history were all in that room at one point. They even had the original chair that George Washington sat in- from 200 years ago!

We didn't make it to the famous Pat’s and Geno’s for cheesesteaks, but we did grab one from Reading Terminal Market, which is kind of a like a Pike Place, but a lot of the food vendors were Amish. One of John’s coworkers from Philly said that locals don’t really prefer a certain cheesesteak place- they all basically taste the same! I did have an amazing soft pretzel though. I don’t even really like pretzels, but it was one pretzel that changed it all...

The Rocky Statue, where we got harassed by dudes trying to take our picture for us for tips. One of those dudes looked at John and said, "So are these your sisters?... Or your wives...?". What the heck- is that common in Philly? In the background is the art museum- it was crazy big and reminded me of European museums.

View from the the steps of the art museum with a view of downtown Philly in the back. Chin was very adamant about taking posed pictures, which is nice because usually my vacation photos are of selfies, John doing things, and scenery. It's nice to be in some of them!

This is a photo from Eastern State Penitentiary which was one of the country's first jails that practiced isolation of inmates. It was creepy, and apparently they do a haunted jail thing during Halloween. We were told paramedics are on site for that.

We didn't actually go in the National Constitution Center to look around, just to get some air conditioning and rest for a bit, but I think this photo shows our patriotism.

The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in the background.

Inside Independence Hall.That's George Washington's chair at the front!

Thanks for such a fabulous time Philly! Can't wait to write about Part 2 of east coast adventure: New York City!

Gone away!

Clouds even Peter Pan would have been jealous of

Guess what? I'm in away having a blast! I really have missed writing in my blog even though it's only been a week, but I'm just too gosh darn busy experiencing places, people and foods. I can't wait to post pictures of my adventures.

P.S. Surprise! Chin's here! It's so much better flying with a buddy- I hadn't flown with anyone in such a long time, I forgot! Look at her, so fabulous, even when she's sleeping.

Planting, paddling and pedaling

I just love summer- being able to go outside and feel warm, and eating peaches and berries- it all just makes me feel so healthy and alive. It's been sunny and HOT. Really, really HOT. I've been sleeping with just a flat sheet and I'm still sweating my butt off because all the heat gets trapped up in my room and I'm too scared to sleep with the windows open for fear someone will break in. Seriously, I'm not kidding. I sleep with an air soft gun that looks like a real gun, a tactical flashlight, and a pepper spray gun, all neatly tucked under the pillow next to me every night. So don't sneak into my room in the dark because you will either be shot with a pellet, be heavily disoriented or get pepper sprayed.

Anyway, I was reading something the other day about how there are 100 days of summer (I actually googled  it later- there are 93) and encouraging people not to waste them. I started thinking about all those days during winter where I just so wished that the weather was better so I could go outside and do something, so I am deciding not to waste a single day of summer. I've been busy having a bunch of fun this week which started with getting new house plants. Kathie and I went to Fred Meyer's and spent probably an hour going through their parking lot which had aisles and aisles of plants. We were super conflicted about which plant to take home and attempt to grow (and very possibly kill) because honestly, we wanted half of them! I ended up with a low growing succulent and some Cuban oregano, which is this furry little succulent that you can smell from a mile away. I'm not very confident in my ability to keep plants alive, but I was told recently that to get a green thumb, you have to kill a lot of things first.

Good luck little babies!

Another fun adventure I finally got to doing was going stand up paddle boarding! I've been meaning to go for years, but I just never got around to it or I kept making excuses or something... But I finally did it and I can't wait to go again! I went with Victoria, one of John's best friends, who had never done it before either, but we watched Surf Ballard's newbie video and threw ourselves in there. Standing wasn't too bad, and I eventually got pretty comfortable, although my toes were clenched so hard on the surface of the board that my toes all kept cramping. It was almost 90 degrees that day, so I thought were were going to fry, but with the water and the breeze and lots of sunblock, it was actually really relaxing. Plus, I woke up sore all over the next morning which is always a good feeling. 

Look at those trees! Absolutely beautiful.

Yesterday, I also caught up with my good friend Alison at her swanky apartment on South Lake Union. I picked up my previously abandoned bike from my parents' that morning and I debated biking to her place from mine in Seattle, but it was peak traffic time, and I thought maybe it was a bit too ambitious for my first bike ride in a year. So I drove my bike to her place and we biked around the lake on the paved paths where we'd be safe from cars. It was beautiful and wonderful and, again, I can't wait to do this again either. But next time, I'll bike to South Lake Union. As soon as Kathie gets her bike back from her friend, I'm gonna ask her to go on biking bakery dates. Oooo, that sounds like a fun blog venture.

Hella sail boats

Our blue twin bikes!

Looking like super nerds. You know what's not funny? Safety. 

Kim's Bridal Saturday Extravaganza!

Over the weekend, we celebrated my sister's bridal shower and bachelorette party, all in one super long fun day! We had the bridal shower at my parents' house where my other sisters and I did all the cooking from scratch (!) for 14 guests. The room was filled with fresh flowers from Pike place in glass pasta jars which only cost $15. We played Kim Trivia, a game where we drew our favorite memory of Kim and she had to guess it, and pin the mustache on the groom, which was totally fun because everyone designed their own mustache out of card stock making Andy's face very hairily festive. For the bachelorette party, we took a sexy dancing class which included sexy walking, sexy crawling (my personal favorite), sexy sliding down a wall, and sexy spinning down a pole. I think we were all scared as hell at the beginning of it, but by the end, we were laughing ourselves silly. It was such a fun way to bond- by being so uncomfortable that you just have to laugh at yourself. Afterwards, we headed out to dinner downtown and hit Belltown afterwards. We progressively loss people throughout the night, because I think it takes a ton of work celebrating for 12 hours!! I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night. It was a total blast that required a ton of planning, but I think everyone had a good time, and that's what's important.

The day after the shower, I went back to my parents' to clean up, and I realized the wedding is in a month! It feels crazy that it snuck up while we were busy doing other things. In the time since Kim got engaged and now, I graduated from college, got into nursing school and finished a whole year of it! I'm so excited for all my family to be in town. I hope the weather is just beautiful so everyone is envious and decides to move here.

Here are some pictures of the shower. They made me realize just how gorgeous my parents' house is.

Cheers to Kimbo! I'm so happy and excited for you!