Even more birthday celebrating

Well after my birthday, I was still celebrating! Maureen and I got together a couple weeks after for our annual birthday twin dinner. We met in Alderwood at Anthony's, and had a great time catching up. So much change happening for both of us this year! Sweet baby Reid and all his glorious hair was our special guest. Isn't he the cutest?!

quick photo before leaving, or it didn't happen

such a doll face

The next day, Dad took me to Palisade for a birthday brunch. They knew we were coming, and set the table with rose petals and a hand written bday card, so fun!

tiniest birthday cake ever :)

typical gray Seattle day

Palm Desert

Mom and I recently flew down to Palm Desert for a visit with Papa. It was a trip full of all the usual fun stuff...golf cart rides (well, just one ride – the cart had some issues after our first day), lemon picking, cookie and lemon bar baking, lunches at In N Out and the award-winning TKB, Shield's Date Farm, frozen yogurt, shopping, Pasta Night at the Club and even a fancy dinner night out at Lavender to celebrate my birthday!

We had great weather, the sun came out and it was the perfect temp. We also got quite a bit done around the house. Papa climbed up into the attic crawl space (always best to do when someone's there to realize if you get stuck), to fix the dryer and also gather some old Christmas decorations to donate. We also cleaned some clutter out of the garage, and went through a box of old photos which was a fun time.

We missed Uncle Bub on this trip, but made sure to send him plenty of photos to make him feel jealous like he was there with us!

Papa and I in the roadster

off to pick lemons

you can tell we do this often and come
prepared with our own picker

pretty sunset

even prettier sunrise

dinner on the patio at Lavender

delicious pork chop dinner

Pasta Night – my fave!

aftermath

finishing off the trip with fro-yo
before the airport

Snowed in

Last Monday, Seattle had a snow day! I took advantage of being "snowed in" and worked from home, while Clint braved the weather and left his place to go to his office in Bellevue. Everything looked so pretty covered in white, and was such a surprise! I hadn't heard it was a possibility, and with how hard it was pouring rain the night before, it was pretty shocking to see the next morning. Eventually the rain came and there was barely a trace by Tuesday, but fun while it lasted.

panorama from my place

panorama view from Clint's

started to snow again while Clint was at the office

Birthday celebrating!

I had quite a fun time celebrating my birthday this year, the big 3-5! My day started with finding dozens of chocolate chip cookies at my desk that my coworker had baked, she is the best. I had people coming by to wish me a happy birthday all day, and snagging a cookie or two. We then went out to lunch to one of my favorite local Italian places, Gallianos. 

Then when I got home, I saw that the frog cupcake fairy had popped in for a visit leaving me with a sweet card and a one-night stay at the Hotel Vintage Park downtown. While calling mom to say thank you, my doorbell rang, and there was Sarah with a fun birthday surprise! She was in the area, and so sweet of her to drop by. She gave me a "birthday in a box" full of a bunch of little surprises – a birthday candle, crown, confetti, pocket crystal ball, fortune telling fish – so cute.

I headed over to Clint's for a night of pizza and Netflix at my request. He had gone and picked up Pagliacci's, and we stayed in watching tv for the night. He also surprised me with roses, a smelly candle, bath bombs, and a gorgeous amethyst ring – my birthstone!

The next day, Clint and I had a staycation planned. Our first stop was Banya 5, a bath house in South Lake Union, where we relaxed in the sauna and steam rooms and soaked in the three different pools. We each had a massage as well. Such a fun treat!

Banya 5

After the spa, we went to the Hotel Vintage Park to use the gift certificate mom had given me. We checked into our huge room, and promptly fell asleep. It had been an exhausting morning of relaxing! We then got ready for dinner, and headed to the lobby for the free wine tasting hour.

Then we caught an Uber and headed to El Gaucho for dinner, where we were completely spoiled and feasted on the 20oz tenderloin for two, such piggies. We also had the table-side caesar salad, mashed potatoes, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

so nice of them to remember!

delicious!

Thoroughly stuffed, we headed downstairs to the Big Picture to use the movie passes we had. They were showing Hidden Figures, which was such a great movie! We were in the front row with foot rests, so I kicked off my shoes and got comfy.

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and walked around downtown doing some shopping at Macy's, Nordstrom Rack and a stop at the first Starbucks at Pike Place Market. Always fun to play tourist in your own city.

And as I love to keep the celebrating going, I still have plans to have dinner with Dad, and also my birthday twin Maureen this weekend. Looking forward to catching up with her and hearing about how she spent my her birthday!

Baby Tryg

My mom and I took a day off from work a couple weeks ago to drive out to Stanwood and visit cousin Jami and her new baby, Trygve (trigg-vee) Elmo Sollid. We brought Jimmy John's for lunch, and got in some baby snuggles. He is so sweet, and either slept or quietly stared at us the entire time. 

Jami seems to be doing great (and looking fabulous!), it's so fun to see her as a mom. Although, hearing the details of Tryg's multiple day birth doesn't quite have me convinced I'm ready for motherhood just yet.

Congrats Jami and Bjorn on your adorable baby boy! 

a little snooze

cousins <3

National Geographic Speaker Series

This year, Clint and I bought season tickets to the National Geographic Speaker Series at Benaroya Hall. But, Clint signed up for classes at Seattle Central (painting and woodworking, he's quite the artist and carpenter...), so he had to miss this first one. Lucky for me, Colleen was free!

We met for happy hour at Von's, and then made our way over to the theater. Taylor and Sarah also have tickets, so we got to visit with them for a bit before heading in.

being cultured

The speaker du jour was Hilaree O'Neill, a mountaineer sponsored by North Face who has gone on some crazy climbing expeditions. The story she told us was about her and a team of six who went to Southeast Asia to climb its highest peak. Just the part of how they got to the base of the mountain (buses, scary train rides, a hike through the jungle) was ridiculous. If you have 25 minutes, you should watch this video that National Geographic filmed of the whole thing.

It was a really cool talk, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series now!

Goodbye, adult braces!

Last March, I decided I wanted to do something about my crooked front tooth. I had been debating over getting Invisalign or not, but after a visit from my dentist I was convinced I should do it. They told me that straightening my teeth would most likely help with the gum recession issue that had been going on around my bottom front teeth. I also had a bit of an overbite, so my bottom teeth were causing wear to my top teeth. So now I was doing it for the betterment of my dental health and not just for vanity reasons...right?!

My dentist recommended an orthodontist, Dr. Cohanim of Cohanim Smileworks (side note: I couldn't remember his first name, so checked the website and it's nowhere to be found! Guess I never knew what it was. After some internet sleuthing I found it...Bobby. So there goes all credibility and respect I had for him, ha!). The office is nice and convenient with free parking, plus the staff is nice. I wouldn't say I loved Dr. Bobby, but he's done a solid job.

After 11 months, 18 office visits, 28 sets of trays, and countless rubber bands, I'm finally done! I have a retainer (that looks similar to the Invisalign trays, clear plastic) that I'll just wear at night now...for the rest of my life. Here's hoping I stick with it. Clint has one he wears each night, so I'm hoping his habit wears off on me!

my old passport photo - but a good
shot of that front crooked tooth

a terrible photo of one of the worst
days ever, covered in bed bug bites and
my first day of adult braces

the day I thought I was done, until they decided
I needed another round which doubled the time

day 1 of round 2, now with rubber bands!

ALL DONE!