This Joy’s Life

This year, size matters. So myself and six other girlfriends from high school and college ventured to the Grand Canyon for our fourth annual Estrogen Fest gathering. As you can see, we had beautiful views and a wonderful time together:

Queen of the world!
Back: Andrea and Allison. Front: Christy, Gina and Amy:
Fog in the Canyon after a big thunderstorm:
Amazing view and no guardrail. That ledge drops right off!
Gina, Amy, Lynnea and myself at the mule and horse stables:
Vegitation:
Wildlife – A condor:
From the tree’s perspective:
More wildlife – Pete, the cyote:
A watch tower built on the Canyon’s South Rim:
Self portrait in the watch tower:
Views from the watch tower:

Below the rim, on a ledge!
Evening sun:
Lynnea and I as the sun begins to set on our last night at the Canyon:
Amy, Gina, myself and Lynnea at sunset:
Sunset at the Canyon:

Clara and I are still in San Fran, headed back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. We’ve been visiting some old Georgia pals – Suzanne, Kevin and their 16 month old Sylvia and our mutual friend Shay who came to visit as well. There were also a few surprise friends in town, as you will hear.

We’ve walked around the cute little town of Alameda quite a bit, getting lunches and coffee, stopping off at a shop or a park or two. We went into San Fran’s Mission District to the Pirate Store, which David Byrne accurately asserts is “one of the top five pirate stores I’ve been to recently,” and where Yashan surprised me with both an appearance (he works in D.C., lives in GA) and his new fiancee. That was MAJOR considering I hadn’t even been told he’d been dating this girl for 8 months! His own parents (who you may remember meeting in this post) kept it from me. They met her parents the morning this picture was taken with NOT A WORD to me about it! But, I was too excited to see Yashan, meet his future wife and hear of their recent engagement to be terribly upset with him about it. And now, here are the pictures so you can see all this for yourself.

At the park with Suzanne, Sylvia and Shay:

Clara had her first bus AND train rides while in the Bay Area:

Suzanne become a pack mule for the kids as we walked to get ice cream in the city:

Yashan and his fiancee Priya:

Sylvia in the library at her house in the late afternoon sun:

The girls at play in the library:

Suzanne cannot beleive they get along so well!

Priya:
Kevin and Yashan:

My cousin Angela has been in town for the weekend and we’ve had a lot of fun visiting with each other, as you’ll see momentarily. But, she’s not the only family from down south that I’ve seen in the last few days. My aunt and uncle flew through Seattle on the way to Juneau for an Alaskan riverboat tour. I got to spend about an hour at the airport with them. It’s nice to see family.

This is David and Frances with Clara at the Sea-Tac airport:

On Friday, I took Angela downtown to see the famous Pike Place Market and the waterfront. It was a beautiful day:



That night, I got the girls together and we went out for the evening in the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont. We had dinner at The Red Door:
And drinks after at The Ballroom:
The next night, Chad and his bro Ryan came with Angela and I to do a tour of the Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville and then to an Irish Pub in Burien:


On Sunday, after doing some shopping in downtown Seattle, Angela and I went back to Vonnie and Earl’s for a salmon dinner followed by some games on the Wii Fit (Vonnie’s birthday present). That was to help make room for the Peach Crisp I made us for dessert:






See how nice that was?

Angela leaves tonight and we are hoping to go to the park this afternoon, so I may have a few more pictures to add later this evening.

Well, Seattle’s weather may not be co-operating, but as everyone is in denial, calendars are filling up with summer fun and vacays. We’ve gotten to visit with two groups at the Seattle airport as they have headed home from Alaska cruises. In May, we saw Praful and Chetna (Yashan’s parents):

And today we spent an hour or so with my uncle Ross and cousins Sheryl, Mark, Hammy and Emmie:

It is nice to live so close to the airport for moments like these! I admit, seeing them makes me a bit more homesick than I already was and am looking forward to our trip home in late September; I can already picture Clara riding around on a tractor in my grandmother’s pasture.

Yes, something like that. Taken at Woodland Park Zoo yesterday morning. Yesterday. When it was supposed to be sunny and nice but was chilly at 52 instead. Granted by the afternoon the temperature had increased by 10 degrees. That’s something, I suppose.

At the Zoo, Clara got the opportunity to pet the goats, which she really enjoyed:

As well as see the flamingos and came home with a stuffed souvenir of her own:

The day before, we went to the Luna Park Cafe, a 50′s style diner, and Clara, Jack and Evan enjoyed a ride in the batmobile:

That afternoon, Clara and I played in the backyard while Evan and Jack enjoyed themselves at a nearby park. I love Evan in his wife-beater. He’s gonna be the tough guy (but in a good way), I can already tell.

And Jack, like Clara, loves him some slide!

Jenn talks more about their adventures at the park on her blog.

Summa, summa, summa-time!!!

Last night, Gwen, Jenn and myself got out of the house for a mini-girls night. We kept it simple, going to the Wallingford neighborhood for pizza at Tuttu Bella’s and ice cream at Molly Moon’s where EVERYTHING is compostable so Gwen didn’t have to feel bad about the 1,000 spoons she used to sample every flavor they had:

We think the Salted Caramel and Scout Mint scoops we finally decided on were laced with something because we were feeling very silly. Maybe it was just the fact that we had all been trapped in the house with children two and under ALL WEEK LONG while it rained and rained and rained, as though even God himself was saddened that summer has not yet arrived in Seattle.

Following ice cream, we attempted to Forget Sarah Marshall at a discount, but alas, AMC does not accept competitor coupons. So we sucked it up and paid full price, but enjoyed the movie nonetheless. It fit right in with the mood of the night. I think I can speak for all of us in saying it was just what we needed and we still managed to stay within a $40 per person budget for the entire evening!

Last night we celebrated Gwen’s 32nd Birthday by going out for drinks, dinner and karaoke in Seattle.

The night began at The Attic Alehouse followed by dinner at The Cactus in Madison Park. As we parked the car, I looked out my passenger side window to see this:

Talk about sending a mixed message! Isn’t that a picture of a dog there? Am I expected to leash my cat and my chinchilla since no dogs are allowed?

If you are ever in Seattle and you like good Mexican food, do be sure to visit one of the Cactus Restaurants. You will not be disappointed! Be sure to wear pants with an elastic waistband, as you will be needing to make space for your muffin top to be free! free at last!

Gwen and Heidi at The Attic Alehouse:
The Girlzzz at The Cactus Restaurant:

After dinner, only Gwen, Carrie and myself were able to continue on to the best little Karaoke joint in town, a Chinese Restaurant in the International District known as Bush Garden. There you can be swindled out of your karaoke songs by the Karaoke host who thinks he’s on American Idol AND that Simon really likes him. So, he keeps telling you how there is not enough time for your song then proceeds to sing Prince’s Kiss which he’s “been working on.”

That, folks, is what being the 1st Place 2001 Washington State Karaoke winner does to you. You forget the little guys, who can’t sing but are still willing to do so in front of drunken crowds at crazy Chinese karaoke bars!

Scott, the 5th Place 2001 Washington State Karaoke winner:

agreed that 1st Place’s ego had really warped him over the years. That was too bad for us. Gwen and I only got to sing Prince’s Little Red Corvette (which we, unfortunately, had not been working on) and White Snake’s “Here I Go Again.”

The rest of the time we had to watch very cliche or weirdly bizarre karaoke videos. The best was the one for Charlene’s “I’ve Never Been To Me.”

Note to self: If ever I need to shoot a low budget karaoke video, do not forget the Ken and Barbie in Clara’s dollhouse. When you are on a budget and you’re all out of real people . . . . reach for an anatomically incorrect plastic doll.

(Dude, that is a great Tag Line!)

I mean, where did the inspiration for that video come from? Do Matel’s Board of Directors frequently “ship” champagne on a yacht? Search me.

There you have it folks – Gwen’s 32nd Birthday Extravaganza!

Hasta La Vista!

We got out as a group without the kids on Saturday night and went for pizza and bowling. The pizza joint was in Georgetown, a sort of industrial area of Seattle, so you wouldn’t expect to find such a *stellar* (and packed) pizza place as Stellar Pizza. Besides the fact that the pizza was delicious and the calzones required an extra seat at the table to accomodate their GINORMOUS size, the joint was rockin’ a juke box playing all Cure all the time and a photo booth. We just couldn’t pass that up, as you can see . . .

The usual crew: Jenn, Gwen, Carrie and myself:
The sign on the photo booth read, “Warning: Brunettes in photos may appear darker than they actually are.”

Last night we had a bachelorette party for our friend Jenny and went to a piano bar in Seattle (called Chopstix) – a classic venue for bachelorettes. Good times were had by all, especially the Bride-to-Be. She even got on stage and acted out the movements to a wholesome tune (I literally hear EVERY DAY) – Head, Sholders, Knees & Toes (made somewhat less wholesome as some of the body parts might have been changed a bit)!!! See for yourself . . .

Me & Jenny:
The gals:
Heidi & T:
Carrie & Shma (aka Maria):
There’s something about Gwen . . .

That Carrie doesn’t like:
(No, I’m kidding. Carrie was not a fan of the Washington Cougars fight song being played over that of the Washington Huskies. You can imagine the tussle, what with cats, dogs and birds all in the mix!)

Head, Shoulders, T&A, T&A (That’s “Toes & A-knees”, of course!):

Last night it was “Girls Night”, so me and my “posse” (read: Gwen, Teresa, Carrie and Teresa’s half-sis, Kelly) got together for an evening out at the Pub followed by TheaterSports.

TheaterSports is Improv (think “Whose Line Is It Anyway”) that utilizes audience participation, like calling out occupations, suggested places, things and other such nouns. They also pull people on stage to act in their scenes. And our Carrie was brave enough to volunteer and ended up in a bizarre but funny scene where she was headed to NASA (and subsequently into space) with her brother who surprised her by inviting her ex-husband hoping they could “work things out.” Unfortunately for husband, Carrie was too busy working on her squirrel in space experiments. Good times, great laughs. You might have had to be there.

Anyway, the theater is located in an alley in downtown Seattle and since there is usually quite a long line to get tickets to the show, people started sticking there gum on the wall outside. A decade or two of this and you’ve got a pretty significant piece of modern art. See for yourself . . .

An Artist At Heart: Contributing to the Gum Wall
SQUIRRELS IN SPAAAAACE!!!

The Girls (sans squirrels):

More evidence of me getting out and having a life. Here I am enjoying Gwen’s 31st, I mean 26th, birthday last weekend. . .

Me, Jenn, Gwen, & Carrie:
Rawee (my buddy) & me:
Birthday girl, “RF” (Chad’s brother) & Jeff H. (Carrie’s Hubby):
Carrie & Jack:
– A visual Ode to Daddies –

Justin, Ch(d)ad, & the Clare-bear:
Ryan “Devo” & Jack Winston Devereux:
Sam with son Luke Russell: