Adventures of the Fourth!

After several fun visits from Gus’ family these past months, it was finally time for my parents to come for a visit! We had a lot of fun sightseeing, shopping, hanging out, eating food, and playing cards.

On Friday, we ventured down to the Pike Market to see the fish throwers and purchase some fresh flowers. I love buying flowers in the market because they are so beautiful and so cheap! My particular bouquet was $5 and is a sweet smelling mix of lillies, dahlias, daisies, and mint sprigs. Later we walked down to the Pike Brewery for lunch. In the afternoon, we measured all our windows and headed off to Home Depot & Lowe’s to price new blinds.

Saturday, we all slept in. It was great. Then we headed down to the Interbay Putt Putt course where I proceeded to beat Gus yet again. My perfect putting record against Gus still stands! Wahoo! We enjoyed watermelon and BBQ’d chicken for dinner, along with several rousing card games (cribbage and Phase10). We opted not to fight the huge crowds at GasWorks Park and instead stayed in to watch the fireworks show on the TV. Lucky for us, you could actually see the bigger fireworks from our house! We had fun watching the big ones in person and then seeing them again on the TV (5 second delay). We also lit all of the sparklers that I have had sitting in the garage for more than a year and assailed each other with snap pops and champagne poppers. What fun! Our new deck looked like someone ripped open a giant bag of confetti and threw it from our roof.

On Sunday, we ventured off to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum at the Seattle Center. Talk about a TON of information. You could spend days in this place and not see everything. However, we did the best we could learning about the history of music in Seattle, the life of Jimi Hendrix, the creation of sci-fi stories and costumes, I could go on and on… but the biggest draw was the travelling Jim Henson exhibit! They had many of Henson’s puppets, sketches, and story boards available for our perusal. What an interesting, unique, and creative mind that man had! We even got to put on our own puppet show, in the Henson style, featuring the song, ‘Mahna Mahna,’ pics below. Gus and I plan to go back to the museum some time soon in order to spend more time there! We ended the night over at our favorite Sunday dinner spot, Duke’s on Alki Beach, enjoying some chowder and mojitos/margaritas.

Sadly on Monday, Gus and I both had to work. My mom and dad hung out at the house where she baked and baked and baked. I think I have enough goods for a sale! Thanks mom! After work, however, we all met up downtown to head off to the Mariners’ game vs. the Orioles. As Gus and I are ‘season ticket holders,’ I got $10 off each ticket for this game, so we opted to sit in the fancy seats near the field. This was so much fun! The players were so close and the foul balls came even closer. The night ended perfectly with Washburn pitching a complete game and the Mariners winning 5-0.

And with that, ended our long weekend of fun. My parents left early Tuesday morning on the long drive back to Montana. It was only mildly bittersweet, though, as I’ll be back home in Montana during the second week of August for a family reunion.

Here are some of our pics:

Why aren’t those bikers wearing clothes and other fun stuff…

Well, it’s official. After 3 years of living in Seattle and hearing of this “must see” festival, I FINALLY was able to attend the Fremont Solstice Fair and Parade. After all, Gus and I only live an easy, 10-minute walk away! For those of you who are unaware of Fremont’s reputation, you should know it is the self-proclaimed “Center of the Universe.” It is also know as Seattle’s hippie neighborhood containing many fun shops, bars, cafes, and free-thinking peoples.

The overarching purpose of the Solstice festival is to celebrate the first day of summer (Seattle people definitely covet sunshine). However, it does have it’s many wonderful quirks… most notably is the Naked Bike Race which kicks off the parade each year. Before you think this tradition is perverse or degrading, just give me a second to explain! You see, most everyone that participates is completely painted from head to toe. You wouldn’t even know that some of them were not wearing any clothing if you weren’t already privy to the info! Some of my favorites are below. Of course, there are the occasional rebels who decide to forego paint and clothing, but they are rare.

The rest of the parade is full of the normal floats, bands, and entertainment. Although it does have 3 rules: 1)No animals in the parade; 2)No motorized vehicles; and 3)No printed words. It was so fun and unique! All of the floats were pushed via man power, and there were no advertisements to be seen. The focus was solely on the artists and enjoying the parade.

The other great part of this celebration is the good food and craft vendors lined up along the streets. Gus, Srini (our friend), and I wandered aimlessly looking at fun art, crafts, eating fair food, and listening to music. We even stumbled upon a booth for a local nudist colony (yes they were also sans clothing), but we quickly passed by, diverting our gazes. Other than the fantastic sunburn I took home, the day was very enjoyable and well-spent.

This week is a short week for us. We are heading up to Lake Tapps to spend a long weekend at Gus' company's employee campground cabins with many of our friends. We did this last year, and it was a blast. BBQing, swimming, playing volleyball, sunbathing, enjoying everyone's company. I'll post an update next week with the pics.

Here are some pics of the Solstice Parade (before my battery died, sad):

Viva La Vie Boheme!

On Friday, Gus treated me with tickets to see the Broadway show, RENT! I was ecstatic, as the show has a great reputation and I know the music very well. Additionally, the gentlemen that played Roger (Adam Pascal) and Mark (Anthony Rapp) were part of the original cast for both the Broadway show and the movie, Wahoo!

We met up with Brittney and her boyfriend, Tom, before the show to enjoy wine and appetizers at Purple. Then we walked down to the Paramount Theatre which hosted the Seattle leg of the show's tour. The show was nothing short of fantastic (I had a tear of joy at the end). The crowd sang along, clapped, cheered, danced, and celebrated as the plot unfolded. The diverse and colorful crowd was very fun to mingle amongst and watch curiously.

If any of you have the chance to see this show, I HIGHLY recommend it. You will not be disappointed. Gus and I love going to see good Broadway shows and we already have tickets for another show in September called Wicked. Should be a blast!

GO SOUNDERS!

Gus and I were lucky enough to score some tickets through a co-worker of mine to attend last Saturday’s Seattle Sounders FC game (that’s our major league soccer team) vs. the Columbus Crew. Not wanting to stand out like sore thumbs, I went to the pro-shop on Friday and picked up some gear for us including 2 scarves, 1 horn, and 1 cowbell (see below).

On game day, we dressed up in our best blue and green, and headed down to the stadium, noisemakers in hand. As I had never before set foot in QWEST Field (where the Seahawks play), I was VERY excited! Everyone on the bus and on the street headed in the same direction we did, and EVERYONE was wearing some sort of Sounders paraphernalia. Much to our delight, our tickets were nearly at midfield and about 10 rows back from the field, close enough to see the players’ faces clearly. Next to us were the good friends of my co-worker, who were all determined to make sure we cheered loudly and participated in all the usual rituals.

The game was pretty exciting as well. When I wasn’t gawking at the tons of signs and flags in the crowd or staring at the beautiful view of downtown, I was bugging Gus with millions of questions about what was going on. I realize that there is a lot of injury faking in soccer (bad actors!) and tons of singing/chanting. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, with several yellow cards issues and one player getting ejected. The one goal the Sounders did score was so much fun! The stadium erupted: the crowd went nuts, horns went off, silver/green/blue confetti came pouring from the roof, and the cheers intensified. It really made me forget that I had been standing in one place for nearly 2 hours watching the game (my feet did remind me the next day!).

It’s really too bad that tickets to these games are so hard to come by. They are sold out until September. I would probably go to a couple more games if the opportunity were presented.

Have a good week!

A Memorial Day to Remember!

Two weekends ago now (my how time flies!), Gus’ parents came up to visit us in the new house and assist in some home improvement projects. We had a great time enjoying what was later dubbed a “work-cation.” Each morning we were up and at it, working in the yard and garage, digging, planting, sawing, painting, and any other outdoor activity verb you can think of. We couldn’t have asked for better weather in Seattle. The sun was out and the rain was nowhere to be found, which was a good thing seeing how Gwen and I (and China) locked ourselves out of the house and had to wait nearly an hour for Gus and Bill to return from Lowe’s! Haha.

Overall, we were able to:
1. Push back the wall in our yard and build steps
2. Put in the lovely patio (94 bricks total)
3. Transplant bushes and plant flowers
4. Stain wood and build a pergola over our entrance gate
5. Paint and create a new wine rack
6. Have spare keys made (to prevent future lock-outs)
7. Pick out paint for the guest bedroom and TV wall
8. Bought new towels (and pillows) for guest room and bathroom

It was quite the successful weekend! Of course, we did take occasional breaks to enjoy each other’s company without the guise of “work.” We enjoyed the Mariners vs. Giants game in which Randy Johnson played what is most likely his last game in Seattle. We also enjoyed good food and wine (Italian in Ballard and Tango Tapas bar downtown) and watched TONS of HGTV.

While we accomplished a lot of work, we vowed to ensure the Takala’s next visit is much more relaxing, although we couldn’t have completed everything so easily without the extra help! We are officially ready for more guests…

Who’s next?!

Vancouver 2010... Here we come!

Gus and I bought tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics yesterday! I'm super excited, despite the fact that I wasn't able to get speed skating or ski jumping. The events we got are Women's Aerials Alpine Skiing, Mens/Womens Finals of Skeleton (think face first luge), Men's curling, and Men's Hockey Sweden vs. Finland. Pretty much adds up to one event per day so we can make sure to get places on time. We'll be heading up there on Thursday, February 18, 2010 and returning to the great U.S. the following Monday. We figured, "How often are we going to live this close?"

Next dilemma? Where to stay...

Not many of the hotels are taking reservations for February yet and most of the house/condo/vacation rentals are $400/night at the cheapest. Some are upwards of $5,000... Hopefully, some of the hotels will be reasonable (<$150 a night too much to ask?) but if not... sigh. We're either thinking of staying an hour or two outside of the city and commuting in each day or possibly renting an RV.

Just wanted to share my fun news and next adventure with you all! Tonight, we are going out to celebrate Gus' 28th birthday. Getting the gang together at the Hale's Brewery to enjoy some local beer and good fun. Don't forget to send him your wishes on Sunday.

Happy Friday!

Blog Updates and what the heck is Twitter??

Since you are reading this, you have noticed that I decided to spruce up my blog. Changed around some colors, etc. I did this for no particular reason other than I wanted to. :)

You may have also noticed that on the right side of my blog, I'm now feeding my "Twitter" updates. As this Sprint commercial notes, 26% of you have no idea what that means... so, I'm going to explain it in my terms.

Twitter is the latest craze in social networking. It allows people to build networks of "followers" and post 140 character updates (same as a text) on what is happening to them at any given moment. People can post "tweets" via text message, internet, and various applications for your computer or phone. Many companies use this to interact with their customers and loyal fans, celebrities post pictures and gossip, reporters and bloggers talk about their new articles, and everyday people talk about the cool purse they just bought or what they are eating. It's really simple, and quite narcassistic, acutally.

I started using Twitter a while back for work purposes, and have really gotten into it. I "follow" several reporters with whom I have relationships, and keep up-to-date on their likes/dislikes/new articles, etc. I also follow some of my favorite brands and celebrities to keep me updated on the latest news and gossip.

You are probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with me (that's you)? Basically, this is going to be the real time update on what I'm up to, since I don't update this blog as regularly as I should. I usually tweet several times a day, so if you are ever curious what I'm up to, just check my Twitter feed on this blog. Leave me comments if you are still confused or want to learn more.

PS. That Sprint commercial I linked above was created by Gus' friend Carlos. Great job, buddy!