Leaf peeping at the park

Seattle has been having some exceptional Fall weather this year (with the exception of the 4 days of rain I missed out on while in Palm Desert...so it's like it didn't even happen), and I'm loving it! There's nothing better than a perfectly clear day when the leaves are changing.

A couple weekends ago, Clint and I decided to stop feeling guilty about being indoors on such a nice day and pulled ourselves away from our Breaking Bad marathon to get out of the house. We drove up the street to Volunteer Park which I had amazingly never been too. Sure I'd heard the name, but never realized it was right there in Capitol Hill or that there was so much to see there...koi ponds, a water tower, dahlia garden, a conservatory...who knew?

We unfortunately got there too late to go into the conservatory, but that just means we'll have to go back. We did peer in the windows and got a glimpse of all the cool flowers and cacti inside.

peek-a-boo

The dahlia garden was beautiful. So many picture perfect flowers. The pom pom looking ones were my favorite.

It was such a pretty day with a beautiful backdrop that we even saw a wedding taking place. We walked around peeping in on their wedding photos as we checked out the koi ponds and amazing view from the museum.

just hangin out in a tree

We also headed over to the water tower and climbed the long spiral staircase up to the top. The view from there was awesome and you could see a whole 360° of Seattle. We even learned a little history since of course Clint reads every informational sign we come across.

lots of stairs - had a little flash back
of hiking as I followed Clint up

nerd

beautiful view from the top

We strolled through the park and saw all the colorful leaves changing and falling to the ground as we made our way back to the car, grabbed some dinner, and headed home to watch the Huskies get clobbered by the Ducks.

Stella & Dot Holiday Collection

Stella & Dot just released a new collection of jewelry, scarves, and wallets for the holidays, and I just about died. I love it all! I went a little crazy spending the remainder of my jewelry credits (and then some) on purchasing new samples for myself. When everything arrived on my doorstep, it was just like Christmas all over again...cute colorful little boxes all with a surprise inside to open.

I'm also excited to be holding a few trunk shows in the next month or so. It will be fun to share all my new jewels with everyone!

Grandpa Henry

My family experienced some more sad news last week with the passing of my grandpa Henry. After my grandma passed away in May, he hadn't been doing so well and had a few visits in and out of the hospital. Him and Grandma had been married for 67 years, and I think it was just too much for him to not have her here anymore.

I have great memories of him, and I know I sure made him proud when I followed in his aerospace footsteps and began working for Boeing. I heard countless stories from him about his time working there as well as for the Port of Grays Harbor. I also remember visiting him and Grandma in Aberdeen and loving to sneak into his den and sit at the huge metal engineering desk. He had all sorts of fun office stuff that I wasn't supposed to be playing with.

We'll be holding a memorial for grandpa Hank in Aberdeen on Saturday, November 3rd and his obituary was published in the Seattle Times this past Sunday.

Grandpa Hank back in the day on Vashon Island

New phone

Welp, I'm about 5 years behind, but I finally ditched the Blackberry and jumped on the iPhone bandwagon! With the release of the iPhone 5, I decided to go for it. I mean, if there's so much anticipation about a phone that people wait in ridiculous lines just to get it, it's gotta be good, right? Well maybe not according to this commercial (love it). Clint might also scold me for not doing endless amounts of research on it, but I'm just going to go with the masses on this one. Jumping off a cliff later? Sure, I'll join.

shiny new toy

playing with the panorama camera feature - the lobby at my office

view from Clint's condo

So my consensus so far? It's little, fast, pretty, and I love it.

Walk for Wishes

This past Sunday, Maureen and I helped out the Make-a-Wish foundation by volunteering our time at the Walk for Wishes held a Marymoor Park. Make-a-Wish is the official Chi Omega philanthropy, so the alumni group had set up this opportunity for us. Note to self: stop making early morning plans for weekends no matter how good it sounds at the time (i.e. races, volunteering, etc.). Looking back, of course I'm glad I did it...I helped out with a good cause AND got to spend some quality time with my Weiner Boo...but having to get up early on a Sunday had me questioning my logic.

We arrived at the park, found the other Chi O alums there to help, and got our assignments. Weiner and I were stationed together at a fork in the path to make sure the runners and walkers stayed on course. I think we were also supposed to cheer them on, but we were mostly busy chit chatting.

Congrats walkers!

After the walk, the two of us treated ourselves with lunch at Red Robin. I won't say who, but one of us got lost on the 2 minute drive from Marymoor to the restaurant while the other waited for 20 minutes, and it wasn't me. Lunch was great, and I had a blast catching up with Weiner as always.

The race attendance doubled in size this year and they raised over $220,000, all thanks to our help (probably). Way to go us!

I'm handy!

Another house project completed! I hung up some peg board in my laundry room so I can get to my tools easier.

After a few test holes to find the studs and a trip to Home Depot to get longer screws, I finally got the thing mounted. So proud!

Salty's Sunday

Last Sunday, Clint surprised me with reservations at Salty's for their all you can eat brunch...boy does he know the way to my heart! I've been wanting to go for a while now that I live so close, and this was the perfect treat for our lazy Sunday.

We got there at 11:30a and had 3 hours to graze before they closed up shop. I tried to pace myself, but the food coma I endured afterward was inevitable. I started out with a plate of savory breakfasts...eggs benedict, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and some mac n cheese thrown in for fun. Next I moved on to seafood...crab legs, peel and eat shrimp, oysters, smoked salmon...so much good stuff! I also tried the ravioli Clint had prepared from the pasta bar, so delicious. Stuffed at this point but not wanting to miss out on anything, I had waffles, pancakes, fruit, prime rib, and even fair scones (this was a special treat since we had opted to not do the Puyallup Fair - it was just too much effort to make the trip, so scones made up for that!).

one of Clint's many plates

delicious scones!

At this point I was painfully full, but couldn't pass up dessert! I hit up the chocolate fountain and dipped just about everything available...including my hand, whoops (that can't be sanitary). We then topped it all off with cookies and freshly made donuts. I'd say we successfully conquered that buffet!

Thanks Clint, you sure do spoil me!

gorgeous view from our table