Thursday, May 26, 2011

#28 - Ferris Wheel!

1. Host mah jongg night.
2. Make jam.
3. Host brunch. (Done!)
4. Go for a picnic.
5. Go grocery shopping on my bike.
6. Finish my year-end photo albums.
7. Take Fred to Lost Lake.
8. Rearrange the backyard.
9. Eat at the Space Needle.
10. Stay in bed all day.  (Done!)
11. <edited for privacy.>
12. Have a really girly slumber party.
13. Play a round of mini-golf.
14. Get the craft room sorted and gorgeousified.
15. Go for a weekend in the San Juans.
16. Have an individual date with each NGS.
17. Go for a hike.
18. Plan and cook a week’s worth of dinners.
19. Go to Portland to see old friends.
20. Perfect a signature recipe (one slightly more nutritional than Bundt cake.)
21. Go to the drive-in movies.
22. Get a mani-pedi every month. (Done for Jan, Feb, March and April!)
23. Go ice skating. (Done!  Colorado with the parentals!)
24. Find the perfect shade of lipstick.
25. Host a big tea party in the back yard.
26. Make a quilt top.
27. Take six dance classes of any kind. (THREE down.  Love the Little Red Hen.)
28. Ride on a Ferris wheel.  (Done!  Puyallup Spring Fair!)
29. Organize our finances and filing system.
        30. Plan an awesome 30th birthday party.

OK, so the Puyallup Spring Fair was a couple weekends ago, and we decided it was an excellent opportunity to take a break from the kitchen renovation warzone and relax a little bit.  Simultaneously, we managed to cross number 28 off the list!  The pictures are bad because we were busy enjoying the moment (translation: canoodling).  Goofy face of delight:
 
We caught some of the sunset:

This was actually the last part of the delightful spring fair, we had already enjoyed Mutton Bustin', a car show, a junior rodeo, an elephant ear, and the MOST adorable thing I have ever seen: piglets racing for an Oreo cookie.  (Yeah, they race in heats of four piglets at a time and yes, it is completely wonderful.  They also have a tiny piglet trained to launch into a tank of water and swim for an Oreo?  Aaaadorable.  Did you know that piglets wag their tails when happy like a dog?  True story.)  So thanks Spring Fair, we'll see you next year for sure!

Monday, May 16, 2011

#19 (and a sneaky #4) - I Heart My Girls (Part One)

1. Host mah jongg night.
2. Make jam.
3. Host brunch. (Done!)
4. Go for a picnic.  (Done!)
5. Go grocery shopping on my bike.
6. Finish my year-end photo albums.
7. Take Fred to Lost Lake.
8. Rearrange the backyard.
9. Eat at the Space Needle.
10. Stay in bed all day.  (Done!)
11. <edited for privacy.>
12. Have a really girly slumber party.
13. Play a round of mini-golf.
14. Get the craft room sorted and gorgeousified.
15. Go for a weekend in the San Juans.
16. Have an individual date with each NGS.
17. Go for a hike.
18. Plan and cook a week’s worth of dinners.
19. Go to Portland to see old friends.  (Done! I heart P-town!)
20. Perfect a signature recipe (one slightly more nutritional than Bundt cake.)
21. Go to the drive-in movies.
22. Get a mani-pedi every month. (Done for Jan, Feb, March and April!)
23. Go ice skating. (Done!  Colorado with the parentals!)
24. Find the perfect shade of lipstick.
25. Host a big tea party in the back yard.
26. Make a quilt top.
27. Take six dance classes of any kind. (Three down.  Love the Little Red Hen.)
28. Ride on a Ferris wheel.
29. Organize our finances and filing system.
        30. Plan an awesome 30th birthday party.

Being an engineer means I spend a lot (a LOT) of my waking hours hanging out with dudes doing what might be considered manly things.  (OK, design engineering is really not all that manly, I have no idea why people think that.)  Anyway, I think maybe I compensate for all that dude-time by having really awesome girlfriends.  In case you missed my posts on #1 or #3, my friends are rad and always hilarious.  I have amazing friends in Seattle, but I was also lucky enough to have some amazing friends in high school.  They are equally rad and hilarious.  Luckily for me, several of them live close enough to see occasionally, so a couple of weekend's ago I went down to Portland to see my friends Sara and Camille and to watch Sara graduate with her master's degree in counseling!  Awesomeness!

I took the train down, which was super scenic and relaxing.  If you haven't taken the train anywhere recently, you should!  First we watched Sara graduate and went out to dinner.  I stayed at Camille's super cute vintage-filled place, and in the morning her husband made us dutch babies and mimosas for brunch.  Girltime, bacon, and champagne??  Doesn't get better than that!
 
I don't know why I decided to immortalize us in our jammies, but I did.  Ignore the bedhead.  Enough of that, let's look at the food! 
 
Doesn't Camille have the cutest 60's china ever?  Love it!

We then went bridesmaid dress shopping for our friend Megan, (who is living in far distant Boston, but who is lucky to have such loyal bridesmaids!)  There was purple fabulousness AND pink leopard fabulousness, but I was so entranced by shiny things that I forgot to take pictures.  

We then went vintage shopping and picked out a belated wedding present from me to Camille, a fabulous vintage picnic basket/tin that is totally adorable.  P.S. If you happen to be in Beaverton and you like tea or antiques, Tea Thyme and Lavender is actually really great.
Of course we had to inaugurate the picnic basket with a picnic!  OMG, did I just say picnic??  Isn't that #4??  How sneaky!  I was crossing things off the list and I didn't even know.  But a picnic with some of my favorite people on one of the first truly sunny days around these parts?  That is something to celebrate.
My girls, sunshine AND a picnic?  Amazing.  It was an awesome trip and we definitely should do it more often!  Just in case you hadn't had enough of girl funtime, I still have #16, #12, and #25 to go!  If you're lucky, there will be a pillowfight and lots of pink!
 

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Ta-Da!

OK everyone, the kitchen is "done".  And with that, I'm out!  Just kidding, not indefinitely, I'm going on vacation for the next two weeks (to Croatia with the parents, yay!) so posting will be a little light.  But I didn't want to leave without sharing our most recent accomplishment, painted walls!  As a disclaimer, it is very hard to get walls to photograph anywhere near to the color that they actually are.  I tried to take photos in a couple of different lights so you can get the idea. 

Drumroll please...the new kitchen! 
See, the photo below goes a little yellow, but it's really closer to peach.




And this next one goes all the way to almost terracotta, but it is closer to a rosy skin-tone.
I love how the warm wall color makes the molding pop and the grey door look intentional and cute.  It's a little hard to see how the apricotiness goes with the counter, but trust me, it looks great.

And just because my favorite feature is still the gem below, another picture of our sink.  If you're tired of seeing pictures of this, feel free to come over and wash a turkey in it.  I guarantee you'll love it all over again.
Warm peachy wall color, counter and sink and cabinet paint on, we're calling this project done for now!  Nice wall color, beautiful tulips and spring just beginning outside, what could be better?  (Two weeks on the beach?  GREAT idea.)  See you all in a couple weeks!