First Timer

Collin went on his very first airplane ride to see Aunt Lindsay in Seattle with me. We had a wild time exploring new parts of the city and old favorites. Lindsay is the best, most generous hostess. She had great ideas for kid friendly activities and some solid Sister Trip traditions sprinkled throughout. It was fascinating to hear what Collin remembered from our time living in Seattle and alternatively, watching him experience things for the first time. 

We hit the arcade, plenty of playgrounds, two beaches, Lake Union, the movies (Pete's Dragon made us so sad.), the Woodland Park Zoo, Pike's Market, the Fremont Troll, and Georgetown. Collin even helped Lindsay and I recreate this beach babe moment from 30 years ago!

Every trip, I am so impressed with the ability to get all caught up with my dear sister and feel so spoiled by all her efforts to give me a break from my day to day. She extended the same welcome to her very energetic 9 year old nephew that has no filter. I wish I would have documented all the funny quotes and quips from riding the bus and walking around downtown. Traveling with a special needs child is not for the faint-hearted, that is for another post though.

Lately

Some snaps from around here lately. The Superbowl. Matt had a birthday, Parker got his braces off. My lil' Sweet P had a 49er birthday party. I live for these winter celebrations in the midst of cold gray Idaho winters. 

I also worked in time for a Sister Weekend. We had sun and of course, rain. Walking around old neighborhoods, eating the best Seattle fare. (This trip we hit up Cafe Flora in Madison Park. Fantastic vegetarian spot.  My favorite- Toulouse Petit in Queen Anne. The best. Period. In Ballard we hit  Percy's- outstanding drinks and The Gerald, which had a fun Mad Men vibe. In Belltown we ate at Some Random Bar. Good food and nice people.) 

I decided we had to see the Sisters movie. (Yikes, only good for a few good laughs.) We also watched The Room together. Horrified but also, give Jacob Tremblay an Oscar! That kid is legit.

Our chats about butter in coffee, Bernie Sanders, and teen rebellion probably make sense to no one else but us. I always leave feeling so spoiled and so loved. Thanks, Sis!

Sister Trip

My sister flew me out to Seattle last month to explore the city with her. We ate, drank, and walked our way through sunny streets all weekend long.

Tamales at La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard.

Brunch at Cafe Pettirosso in Capital Hill.

Coffee at Bedlam in Belltown.

I always have a great time adventuring with her. It's good to have a sister and as far as sisters go, she's the best. Not a lot of pictures but memories made in abundance.

San Fran Sister Celebration

My sister took me on a fun fall get away for my birthday this year. She has traveled to San Francisco for work many times this year and scouted out the perfect girls trip. After all the back to school chaos, it was a delight to jump on a plane and hit the refresh button.

A weekend of good food, long chats, and mindless strolling in such a fun city.

We have very similar ideas about food. Indulging on a massive burger and then following it up with fresh carrot juice. What? I don't know, it just worked for us. 

We actually stayed in downtown Berkeley. I had a blast exploring that town and hoping to run into a Braverman ;) 

Gumbo! What a treat to have so many amazing food options in walking distance.

We traveled to San Francisco with the boys in 2009 and did all the touristy things. This was a more blissfully unplanned pace with just us sisters. Walking, shopping, eating, and photo taking. Lindsay is the master of Yelp and would find just what we had a hankering for within a few minutes. And the kicker, she paid for absolutely the entire thing! Yep, a total treat.

escape to Seattle

Hooray for Spring! January and February end up being pretty hard months for Matt and I. (maybe the rest of the world too?) Between finances, the Holidays being over, the weather, oi! It gets a lil Dark Farm over here. So at the jump of Spring Break, Matt and I dropped off the boys at their grandparents and tried not to speed away too fast.

Seattle was the obvious choice for a weekend away. We left half our hearts in this city and were aching to visit. Two days downtown, eating our way through the city and two days at our dear friends guest house. It was the perfect trip.

The sunshine came out for us as it usually does. Not sure if the years we spent in the city were out of character, but we have no problem with Seattle weather. (having a WAY harder time with Idaho weather)

Salted Caramel and Thai Tea ice cream at Molly Moon's

Brunching with friends Ty and Rhiannon after date night with Hillary and Alfred. These friends really rolled out the red carpet for us. Rhiannon and Hillary also cooked up the most delicious spring supper for Matt and I's visit. All the while catching up and pouring drinks and welcoming a meercat into their home ;) I have missed these girls! (and Matt his fight nights in the Warbox)

As this girl!! Matt met up with a friend for a few hours while Linds and I toured her hip neighborhood and thrifted through Fremont.

She took basically the most amazing photos of me ever. (you know how you never like a photo of yourself? this was the complete opposite, brought out my narcisism in a big way ;) also, this one)

 Dan and Ellen treated us to dinner out at Brookyn's Oyster Bar. Amazing food, especially the Northwest Bouillabaisse. And this girl even tried a couple of those raw oysters! When in Rome...

 We grabbed breakfast at Homegrown before lunch at Buddha Ruksa. (some beach power walks in between) No pictures at Homegrown but it was delightful and the pictures of the Crispy Garlic Chicken may not seem like much but there is a reason it is called "Crack Chicken."

 Hard to drive home, but in the best way. And... we came home to Idaho rain.

Now this is the story all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down...

 A photo dump to explain away the move. Or start to anyway. It started with the urge to repaint the interior of our house. I had wanted to for over a year but, such is life. When we jumped in with 5 gallons of 'Ancient Stone' as recommended by the Rehab Addict, it looked just about one million times better. No joke.

It was actually around May when I felt like maybe our time in Seattle was over. Matt had a couple ideas to make the work stress and schedule better but nothing panned out. So in July, I really started in thinking about what was next. Our lifestyle was not sustainable, the cost of living in Seattle has been a battle. Returning to Idaho made the most sense but there was uncertainty about employment for Matt. I became obsessed with making the jump back but Matt was not convinced. Then came a phone call with a job offer for a job he had not even applied for. We took it as all doors were now open. The housing market was booming, most of our extended family are in Idaho, and Matt's mom recently remarried and moved out of her home leaving an convenient transition for Matt and I. (no having to rent or buy from Washington) I am skipping over a lot here but you get the idea. The timing was so quick that we hardly had time to wonder about the future.

We celebrated this guy turning 12, with style.

 Sharing our most favorite Toulouse Petit with the boys. You should have seen the look on the waitress' face, convinced we were wasting our money. And then her face when they all licked their plates clean.

The monorail! Aden had this on his wish list since Christmas. 

 Such a fun day doing all the touristy things about the city. Love this family of mine. Blessed by how they navigate the city with ease.

 Finally visited Coleman Pool, on my list for 2 years!

 Wined and dined by the best girlfriends.

 Cleaned everything manically. Fridges are GROSS. This is the after, so pretty I had to capture it.

 Wine at the skatepark.

Goodbyes with friends.

 Football in the park. Seattle summer is GLORIOUS.

 And my lil' sis is 30! Fun night at Barrio followed by Molly Moon's.

 Spotless. The house looked awesome, as long as there was not anyone actually trying to do any living there.

 Digging out buried treasures to keep this little one occupied while I cleaned.

All the can't miss Seattle spots, like Meander's, we tried to hit up one more time.

Most days we looked a lot like this.

Delridge Days! It is just nuts the opportunities that existed just a few minutes from our home. This was a free skate lesson with live competitions all day long. Took our mind off from all the packing.

The plan was to arrive in Idaho in time to start the Nampa school year then return on Labor Day Weekend to pack up all our things. (And thank God! Our house sold that first week we were gone!)

I told Matt I wanted to hit the road by 9am and by golly, it just worked out.

Forgive the rushed post but I had to start somewhere.