Bellingham State of Mind

My lil' sis is back up at school and we had to go check out her new crib! It was fun to make a day of it and she showed us all the cool stuff and I got to take a little trip down memory lane...college!

First stop: Boundary Bay. We got that tapenade I couldn't stop thinking about from last summer, and salad and chowder and of course, oatmeal stout. Mysty waited impatiently outside for us, making friends and enemies. Obnoxious!

Next stop: Lafeen's! Court reminded me about this awesome place. Ladies, remember the pj-clad late night doughnut missions? Good times...

 

This place is friggin' classic...and they have wifi!

The classic.

Apple fritter goodness.

My raspberry jelly doughnut. SO GOOD.

Yeah.

Noshin'.

I love my sister!

Where to next? How about Whatcom Falls. And let's check out the fish hatchery while we're at it...

Fishy makin'

Fishies being fishies

Supercute bridge

Court I think you are channeling Aunt J here...

Falls. Some crazy people jump here ;)

Another fall.

Whew! Worked up an appetite. Headed over to the other other B'ham brewery...

Chuckanut...sat outside and enjoyed the view and last moments of Summer...

Cohab got the sampler, of course!

I got the Kolsch. It was Kolsch night! I like this a lot...

Chowdah. Really good.

Last stop: tower on campus. I did not even know about this when I went here. It's this really creepy tower on the top of Sehome Hill that you can climb up and see all over. That's Canada over there. I think.

Mt. Baker.

B'ham!

There ya' have it, Folks. Another day trip to B'ham to visit the sis in the books. I can't wait to go back. Maybe we'll have to make a Winter trip up there. Thanks for hosting us, Court! :) :) :)

Weekend Re-Cap

A quick re-cap of my "weekend" (in quotes because weekends are everyday in unemployment world) and then on to the "week" recap!

We trekked over to Husky Stadium for an awesome tailgate and the game. The dawgs won!!! Woo! So much more fun with a win. I also love tailgating. It's never not awesome. Thanks to the Loganns and their families for basically planning and making the whole thing happen. I love when parents are around.

Megan and I, being "honorary" dawgs for the day. Hey, WWU doesn't have a football team, anymore!

I love the hardcore tailgaters. Ice sculpture? Nice.

Broheims. Can I get a witness on how my honey totally has the Randolf Engineering MadMen sunglasses? He's so trendy!

Bartons. Phil with Amelia, striking supercute poses. Love this little one!

I went on a spree taking pics of sibs. Here's Megan and Kristin!

Keene and Marissa. All the O'Connors say "heeeeey!"

And of course, the couples pic.

I had a blast at the game. Any excuse to wear a CRAZY HAT.

Then on Sunday I wasn't feeling very awesome but Keene still got to go along on a plane ride with Pilot Phil. He loved it! I will definitely have to make sure I go next time. Check out some of the shots he took from the plane...

Pretty cool stuff, huh? It was a super duper weekend all around!!! :) :) :)

List and Comm: if I had the time...

You Guys, do you ever get inspired and think of all the things you could do and try and see? I have to make lists, because I can't always get to this stuff in a timely manner. Some day, sigh!

Things I Really Want to Do Right Now:

1. Learn to can and pickle, take a class
2. Assemble mini pies and freeze to enjoy this winter
3. Get out my sewing machine and experiment with altering my clothes
4. Make more jewelry
5. Make chili
6. Work on my halloween costume (high stakes among my pals)
7. Learn to golf
8. Take tennis lessons
9. Go to a First Thursday Artwalk
10. Go get a pumpkin spice latte (this one I can actually do today!)

What are y'all inspired to do this Fall?

{image via WeHeartIt}

90th Birthday Bash

Last Sunday my Grandma turned 90 years old. *NINETY!!!* It was such a milestone day and we no doubt hat to make sure she celebrated just how she wanted. Lots of family and friends came over and my Grandma looked beautiful. I hope I get to 90 with as much grace and style as she has!

Me and Gram as the party is just getting underway!

Had to have a touch of yellow at the front entrance.

Here's part of my big picture project I did: little streamers that started at the front door. (BTW many thanks to my girls who helped me cut circles and put these together)

We added them to the french doors inside too.

I wanted to highlight some of Gram's favorite pictures...she is so gorgeous!

Gotta have the birthday bunting, right? :)

Put out some of the frames we had with pretty pictures of Gram over the years. Gorgeous again!

The spread. Lots of food: Grandma's recipe chicken casserole, salmon, fruit, crab, caesar salad, artichoke rice salad (thank you, Cohab!), the cake, and pasta salad.

My mom made my Gram's favorite: butterscotch pie. Yum!

And here's Margaret who was so sweet to come over! Her and my Grandma are besties. Margaret bought Gram some maps which was some inside joke between the two of them. They are so cute.

I had a great time celebrating my Grandma and her milestone birthday. Can't wait to have some butterscotch pie again next year for her 91st!

Whew. Weekend Re-Cap.

Yes, I know it's Wednesday. I know you people have jobs. But I'm just now finishing my weekend and getting to the re-cap! Dealwitit.

Anywhoos, this weekend was BUH-IZY. Labor Day weekend is always crazy though, right? I wonder if next year I could swing having no plans...hrm...if I am mysteriously not answering my phone/emails/fb this time next year it means I've gone into hiding!

All good stuff though. Starting with a birthday dinner for Paula at FareStart. FS is awesome and I'm really glad Paula gave us a great excuse to all dine there.

Look it's Kymber and The Merkles! Woo!

My Date :)

Dinner started with a yummy bisque. Paula and I had a food-styling-off. It got pretty serious.

Tasty dessert! Nice plating :) It was really fun to have the whole gang in one room all politeish and dining classy-style. Thanks again for being born, Paula!

Friday I stole some time away to meet up with some of my ladies. We decided we had to soak up whatever last rays of warmth where here before the rain rolled in for good...so we went to Sambar.

I got this delightful drink. No idea what it was but it was fall-colored and lovely.

Megs basking in sunlight post water skiing.

Kim with her fun drink. It was such a cute little place! Definitely recommend it :)

Oooh, and Saturday we got to celebrate the marriage of our friends Brandon and Ally at this gorgeous location right above Pike Place Market. It was SO much fun. Too much fun. I'd promised my aching feet that after a full day of my Grandma's 90th (stay tuned for that re-cap) party we hosted that I would not dance. Nope, didn't stop me. GAWD! Can't help it. The energy was high and everyone was super happy for Brandon and Ally. The speeches were amazing, too. Waterworks!

Next day: Bumbershoot. The cohab and I had to skip a few of the past B'shoots because we were in DC, so we made sure we didn't miss it. I had to see The Moondoggies! I'd never seen them, and they rocked. 6-Degrees of Murphy fact: lead vocals and guitarist Kevin Murphy, is (duh!) brother to my girls Molly Murphy and Andrea Murphy. Six degrees! There are even more degrees, but I'll save it for the next party I see y'all at. They just released their new album, Tidelands. Go check it out!

Of course it wouldn't be Bumbershoot without enjoying the music from under the space needle, in a light Seattle drizzle. Good thing we Northfaced-Suited-Up before we came. It was no biggie!

In fact, the rain and maybes the economy and perhaps lack of mainstage draw kept most of the crowds away. LOVED that part of it! You could actually walk around Seattle Center for once.

Y'all, I had a full, fabulous, exhausting combo of a weekend. Stay tuned for tomorrow's re-cap of my Grandma's 90th Birthday Party. Let me just tell you, it was wild! ;)

Mad Men

Check out this Rolling Stone slideshow of pics from the set of Mad Men. Lawd GET ME THESE leopard print heels!

List & Comm: Favorite Things

I think we're due for another "Favorite Things" List, aren't we?

1. Speaking of favorite things, and The Sound of Music, how about we start with my favorite: Captain Von Trapp! MEOW.
2. Good News. Who doesn't love being surprised with good news? I hope good news comes in threes also!
3. Prickly Pear Mojitos.
4. The Party Store.
5. My freshly re-strung tennis racket. Now it makes that "pop" sound again. Finally :)
6. Pizza. I can't get enough.
7. That one last grill of the the summer. With a beer.
8. Cohab wants me to list: "College effing Football" and "Not taking the bar". Word.
9. Crisp Fall-is-coming air
10. Pumpkin Spice Lattes! (countdown is on)

Ok now you go: tell me some more of your favorite things, y'all! :)

Maltby Cafe: a problem

It's a day full of food praise.

People: go to the Maltby Cafe. It's worth the drive and the wait for this giant-sized delicious cinnamon roll:

My parents discovered this spot and now every Saturday all I can think is: "Maltby Maltby Maltby". Their breakfasts are HUGE and really good! Sigh, living at home again!

Who likes ice cream? (you know who you are)

Dudes, my sis and I played some tennis and dayum, do you know where the tennis courts are? Right next to our fave Everett thai place. The stuff just whafts over to the tennis courts and it's bad news. Naturally, we worked up an appetite and had to hit it up for lunch. A super pleasant surprise came when they brought us these really cute spoons of coconut ice cream. It was sooo good! You can believe that too because I am not one to go gaga for ice cream or coconut. Loved it! If you're ever in Everett, swing through Lanna Thai. It's where it's at.

Paula: Dirrrty Thirty!

This Girl turned 30 last weekend:

Isn't she the cutest? You had to wear something that started with the letter "P" for Paula and I wore pink, obvs, but some people went all out!

KJ had pearls, pink, purple, pumas, and a pony hat!

She totes won. This was also a "mustache" themed party, so I got crafty and made some 'staches for everybody with just fun paper and double-stick tape. You could rock it ring-style:

And then pose all cool-like...

Thanks for being born, Paula! I'm so lucky to have you as a friend! Also I loved having an excuse for a paper craft :)

Other Big Moments :)

Some other big stuff happened during my blog hiatus!

Liz + Hunter = LINTER! Our dear friend Liz married her prince right along the water at the Ballard Marina. It was a gorgeous night for a wedding. Oh man, and we all had a blast! Even successfully got the DJ to stay longer after convincing him that the party was indeed, not over yet ;) Thank you Linter for giving us a fabulous occasion to celebrate!