Second Annual 29th Birthday

I've been "planning" for it all year, and now it's come and gone. My 30th birthday, that is. Bye, bye twenties! It's been swell!

 The whole theme was rocks and dinosaurs.You know, old stuff. I was first inspired by these cupcakes and eventually ended up sending out these geode invitations.

 I didn't feel like tracking down rock candy for my cupcakes (plus, it doesn't seem like it'd be too pleasant to eat a whole cupcake coated in the stuff). Instead, I spray painted little plastic dinosaurs! I found everything at Fred Meyers! Even the little star sprinkles are from the baking section. What flavors you ask? The yellow cupcakes are apricot and the mauve ones are fig-blackberry. Not my most impressive, but still pretty delicious.

I had high hopes of finding a table, but who knew people like to go to the beach on Sundays in the summertime?

The hexagonal plates are from Paper Source. I've been waiting like 3 months for a reason to buy them.

 My mom and sister came up, and of course, my niece, Tilly. She helped me get dressed! I would try things on and she would tell me either "Umm, no, not special enough" or "Yes, that's special!" The dress she's wearing is actually one of mine. So is the bracelet.

Such a perfect place to celebrate being alive.

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In Photos: Summer in Seattle

It's been a gorgeous summer. September is always a bittersweet month.

Fremont Market

Golden Gardens

I've never seen blackberries as plentiful as they are this year.

I think I'll miss the neighborhood flowers and my little garden the most.

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In Photos: Claire's Visit

So a little background. I lived in England for 7 months in 2006. It was a dream come true, but of course I was horribly homesick. I probably would have left early if it hadn't been for our neighbors, the Jones, or as I call them, the Duncans (I couldn't remember their last name, just the dad's name). Claire was just 15 when I met her. She's now an amazing young woman who saved up her pounds and pennies to come visit me. After a fab week and a half, it was a teary goodbye at Seatac yesterday. Here are some photos from our adventures.

MONDAY

We enjoyed cupcakes at Cupcake Royale and wandered around Ballard

One of the best photos anyone has ever taken of me.

TUESDAY

Shopping and dinner!

We're both huge fans of Gordon Ramsay, so we had to have dinner at Yanni's, which was featured on the latest season of Kitchen Nightmares. Honestly, I'm not even sure why, because this restaurant has always been great.

No more rumors! It's actually happening! Claire was not impressed, since Zara is plentiful in England.

WEDNESDAY

I usually avoid touristy things, but I'm so glad Claire was so persistent on going up the Space Needle. We went at sunset, found free parking (!), and the views were spectacular. It wasn't even cold and windy, like I had expected.

THURSDAY

We had lunch at Cafe Presse with my family and my best friends. We had a pomme frites eating contest, of course. I took her to almost all of my favorite restaurants and bakeries. We missed out on Top Pot, though, because we were both sick of sweets and baked goods by the end of the week. 

After lunch, we all went to Volunteer Park, since the conservatory was free for First Thursday. Then we sat in the grass and fed the squirrels, and ourselves, pastries from Bakery Nouveau.

On my way to dinner, I jumped out of my car into traffic to rescue this racing pigeon. Everyone keeps telling me how brave and awesome it was, but lets be honest. It was idiotic. I dropped him off with a man in Tacoma who has racing pigeons. Hopefully he can nurse him back to health, because I didn't know what I was doing. Someday I'll have pet pigeons, though.

FRIDAY

My dad and stepmom, who also lived in England, took us to Kingston for dinner. It was the most beautiful gray evening.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

We went down to Shelton to stay with my mom. That means more pastries, of course.

Raspberry tart and chocolate-banana cream (I think) from San Francisco Bakery in Olympia.

MONDAY

We took Claire to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time!

TUESDAY

After a stressful day stuck in a car with no A/C, it was nice to finally make it home to Seattle. We went to Kerry Park, had dinner at Mezcaleria, and watched the sunset from Queen Anne Boulevard. It was the perfect note to end our vacation on. Unfortunately, one of us had the idea of going to Ikea on the way to the airport. Claire made it home safe and sound, though.

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Mini Vacation

My friend and former neighbor, Claire, is visiting from England. She came all the way just to see me! Well, and America. This is her first time and I feel lucky to be her host. I get to give her the tour of Seattle, and her first taste of life in the US. It will be fun to play tourist in my own city, too.

Yesterday, we bought paper and craft stuff in Greenwood, cupcakes in Ballard, and clothes in the U District. I got these fab suede flats in the Madewell sale. Then we came and had salad and Pimm's Cup! Gotta make her feel at home ;)

Tomorrow we'll go shopping downtown, Wednesday will be heading up the Space Needle and wandering Pike Place, then Thursday will be dinner with friends. The weekend will be spent down in Shelton at mom's house, with a little trip out to the coast. It's going to be a packed week! Hopefully I will have some good photos for you next week!

Cheers!

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Country Escape: Part 2

Another country adventure! I helped out with my niece again while my sister celebrated her college graduation in Hawaii. We didn't have quite as much sun, or adventure, as Maddie had in Hawaii, but it was still a wonderful, relaxing week.

 Nothing says "summer in the country" quite like daisies.

Emmett, my mom's corgi. He's a great farm dog who takes pride in his work, the way a corgi should.

 Frida coming over to see what I was doing sitting in the grass.

Garlic harvest

I made rhubarb hand pies with rhubarb from my mom's garden. They're maybe the prettiest things I've ever baked.

 Going for a walk along the logging road. We were nearly eaten alive by mosquitos!

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Look of the Day: Picnic for One

My husband, Trevor, is gone on a business trip, but that's no reason to mope around all week. That means it's times to be pretend single!

Whenever he goes away, it's always a mix of feelings. We're both pretty independent, but we got married for a reason, so of course we miss each other. It's nice, though, having a big bed to myself and doing whatever I want for dinner.

Monday was the most glorious day we've had in Seattle in a while. It was close to 60 and splendidly sunny. I didn't have much to do at work, so I threw on my Madewell sweatshirt dress (haven't had many opportunities to wear it) and some happy colors, and went shopping with Frida at University Village. We didn't buy anything (amazingly), but Frida did have her photo taken twice! And we finally met another Corgi Chihuahua mix that, somehow, had ears bigger than Frida's.

When I got home, a picnic dinner sounded like a good idea, so I stopped by Malena's, which recently opened down the block from my apartment. I ordered the shrimp taco combo, which was amazing. I expected previously frozen cocktail shrimp, but they were pretty fresh and perfectly cooked. I finished off some hard cider from an orchard in Chelan and read a bit of the new Vogue.

The best part about Spring: being able to go out with bare legs!! I've been looking forward to wearing skirts and dresses without tights for so long! I just wish the swelling would go down in my ankles. That's right, a month later, still recovering from my multiple falls. Stupid weak ankles! Luckily, I think I'm the only one who can tell the difference.

If only my husband could have as lovely a week, but that is not the life of a man who works in the thrilling field of grants administration. Hopefully his weekend will be more enjoyable than his week, though. Thursday, I'm off to Baltimore to visit friends and meet up with Trevor (back to being for-real married). I've packed 3 camera cards, so I should have some photos of my travels to share with you by next week! Hope you all have wonderful holiday weekend!

Madewell Sweatshirt Dress - J.Crew jersey cardigan (similar) - Lady Howard circle scarf (similar) - Classic Vans - vintage sunglasses (similar)
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